How to make a cornhole board set

How to Make a Cornhole Board Set: Building a Cornhole Board from Start to
Finish

A couple years ago my family attended a cookout at my friend's house. We had a
great time chatting, eating, and just messing around. While my son was bouncing
off the walls with the other kids my husband found a new love - cornhole.

If you are not familiar with cornhole it is a bean bag toss game where you throw
bean bags at a raised platform trying to get the bean bag in a hole.

The cornhole board set my friends had was a miniature plastic version and not a
"real" set. Not too long after that cookout my husband decided he wanted to
make a real regulation sized cornhole board set and paint it with his favorite
team's logo (Go UK!).

Materials
1. 4 – 2x4 (Cut to the following length)
A. 4 – 4’ long
B. 4 – 21” long
C. 4 – 16” long
2. 40 - 2 ½ “ Wood Screws (Drywall Screws)
3. 2 – Plywood 2’x4’
4. Sandpaper (3 different grains)
A. 100
B. 150
C. 220
5. Wood Filler
6. Drywall Spackle
7. 4 – 3/8 Carriage Bolts
8. 4 – 3/8 Wing Nuts
9. 4 – 3/8 Washers

Directions

First start by cutting the 2x4 into the proper lengths. You will need to have four
pieces that are 4 feet long for the sides of the frame, four pieces that are 21 inches
in length for the tops and bottom of the frame, and four pieces that are 16 inches
in length for the legs.

Screw two of the 21 inch boards between two of the 4 foot boards making a
rectangle. All the boards should be laying on their sides while doing this.

Now that you have the frame built it is time to put the playing surface on. To do
this put a piece of plywood on top of the frame and place screws at each corner
and at every foot interval around the entire frame. In the end you should have
used a total of 12 screws attaching the playing surface to the frame.

The next step is the hardest step in the process. You need to sand all of the wood
for a nice smooth finish. Start sanding all surfaces with the roughest grain (100
for me). You are free to do this anyway that you wish. Personally, I use a ¼ sheet
electric sander. This really cuts down on the time that it takes to sand two large
boards. My first colehole board set I made the mistake of sanding by hand which
took over 3 hours for just one round of sanding and made my shoulders
extremely sore. I swore to never to that again so I found a cheap electric sander
on Craigslist for 10 bucks.

After cleaning off all of the saw dust off of the boards (I just used a broom to
sweep the dust off of the boards) use wood filler to fill in all gaps and cracks. This
is used primarily for the screw hole and gaps between the plywood. Once the
wood filler has dried sand all of the surfaces again with the roughest grain
sandpaper that you have (100). This will start to smooth out the wood filler.

Now you can switch to your medium grain sandpaper (150) and do a pass over
the entire surface of all the boards. Then place the drywall Spackle all over the
playing surface. This will insure that your playing surface is super smooth.

Once the drywall Spackle has dried use your medium grain sandpaper to sand
down the playing surface again. Are you tired of sanding yet? Finally, you can use

your finest grain sandpaper (220) to make one final pass over the entire surface
of all of the boards.

Mark a spot on the top of the board that is 9 inches from the top and 12 inches
from a side. This will be the center point of your hole.

Now you must draw a circle on your board that is 6 inches in diameter with the
new mark that you had made at the center. Below are a couple of different
options that you have for cutting this hole.
1. Go to your local hardware store and buy a 6” diameter Drill Bit. This will
ensure a nice even round circle.
2. You can also drill as large a hole as you can with a drill bit. After you have
drilled the hole you can use a hand saw to cut around the mark that you have
drawn.

After cutting the hole it is time to start working on the legs. Start by taking each
of the four 16” 2x4’s and find the center of the widest part of the board. The
center is about 1 ¾“ of the 16" 2x4. Once you have found the center make a long
line down the middle of the board.

Turn the board over so that the playing surface is face down. On the end of the
board that has the hole take a scrap 2x4 and place it in a corner with the wide
part flat against the top side of the board. Take the leg and place it in the same
corner with the wide part of the leg against the side.

Using the line on the leg as a guide mark the side of the playing board so that it
lines up with the line on the leg. Make a mark that is half way on the side of the
playing board. This is the mark to drill the hole for the bolts.

Now line up the lines on the side of the board and the leg and place the scrap
piece of wood directly behind the leg and place lots of pressure. Use a small drill
bit to make a guide hole in the marked spot.

After drilling the guide hole switch to a 3/8 drill bit to make the hole larger and
then place a carriage bolt through the side and through the leg.

Place the washer on so that it is next to leg and screw the wing bolt on to lock the
leg into place. (You will be taking the legs off later to do some more cutting)

Now repeats these steps for each of the remaining 3 legs.

Once all of the legs are attached you can remove them one at a time. On the legs,
round off the end around the hole making sure that you do not cut to close to the
hole. This rounding will allow the legs to fold in and out.

Once you have cut a round shape on each end of each of the legs place them back
in the proper spot and tighten them down.

Next you must find a table surface that is large enough to place the whole board
on. On the top end of the board place something under the end and measure from
the table to the top of the board. Place enough under the board to raise it 12” off
the table. Make sure that one leg is folded completely out (the other should still
be folded up), hanging over the side of the table, and is flat against the edge of the
table.

Place a pencil at the edge of the table and draw a straight line along the table on
the leg. This will allow you to cut the bottom part of the leg at an angle that will
allow it to sit on the ground flat and level. Do this to the other leg as well.

Now when you measure from the floor to the top of the back of the board it
should be sitting at 12” when the legs are folded out.

You now have two complete cornhole boards. Wait! There is something missing!?
I am sure you have a favorite team you would like to support. I just wrote a post
about how to paint a cornhole board set (with pictures) that is sure to help you
with your cornhole painting endeavors. Have you ever played cornhole before?
Do you like it?
Written by Krystle with http://www.homejobsbymom.com

How to make a cornhole board set

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