$60 Cornhole Boards

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Intro: $60 Cornhole Boards

I built a set of cornhole boards, for my sister's family, out of an old pool table we picked at a old lady's house in the middle Florida.  The table was so badly beat up the only parts that were still usable were the slate, the rails and the bottom hardwood supports.  So I reclaimed the support wood and made my Sister and Brother-in-Law a nice set of antiqued corn hole boards.

Since then my wife has been wanting our own set so we can take them out when we have company over.  So I threw together another set in about 10 hours (see below).  Since, our boards came out so nice I thought I would build another and make a Instructable on how to do it.

I hope you like this instructable and feel free to give me some feedback.

STEP 1: Materials:

Lumber:
(2) 1/2" 2'x4' pre-cut boards
(4) 1"x4"x8' pine boards

Hardware:
(1 box)  1-5/8 drywall screws
(4) 3/8" rounded head bolts
(8) 3/8" washers
(8) 3/8" Hex nuts

Tools:
Tape measure
Pencil
Miter Saw
Saber Saw
Drill (w/bits)



STEP 2: Cutting the Wood

Cut the 1"x4"x8' lumber to the following lengths with the miter saw:

(4) 4'
(4) 22 and 1/2"
(2) 33 and 1/2"

The 4' pieces are the sides of the boxes
The 22 and 1/2" pieces are the tops and bottoms of the boxes
The 33 and 1/2" pieces are the Legs

The last cut is done at a 45 degree angle.

Set your miter saw to cut at 45 degrees. You will cut the 33 and 1/2 board in half at 45 degrees. This will create the slope for the leg.

The easiest way to do this is to lay the board on the table.

On the edge closest to you measure 18 1/2" from the left and make a mark.
On the edge way from you measure 15" from the left and make a mark

Now draw a line between the two points, and cut with the miter saw.

STEP 3: Drill Baby Drill

Now that all the pieces are cut you can put the Miter saw away and grab your trusty Drill.

Since we are working with 1"x4" lumber I recommend pre-drilling the holes that go into the grain.  This will prevent the wood from splitting.

You only have to pre-drill the 4' pieces.  And don't pre-drill in to the 2' pieces.  This will reduce the integretiy of the piece.

Next line up the edges and make sure they are flush together thensScrew it all together with the drywall screws.

Once you have the frame assembled drill the holes fo the legs.

First take an old McDonalds Cup or something round like an old paint can and trace the edge on the top flat part of the leg.  This created the rounded part of the leg to you will be able to close it when you are finished playing with it.

Now measure down 2" and in 1 and 3/4 from the edges.  This is where you will drill for the Leg holes.

Next on the frame measure 2" (2 and 1/2" if you have the top on already) from the edge and 4" from the top of the board. Mark and Drill.

NOTE: a 1x4 is not really 4" wide so it is important NOT to put the hole in the middle of the board. Place it 2" from what will be the top. Otherwise you won't be able to close or open the leg when you bolt this together.

STEP 4: Holding Down the House

Now place the top on and screw it down!  (Don't worry about pre-drilling this piece)

I like to place my screws as follows to ensure the piece is square and flush:

I measure in 2" from every corner and place a mark.  Then I mark out every foot. This places two screws in every corner and secures the top very nicely.

Next I square up one corner and make sure the corner is flush then I screw in the first screw on the side.
I then Square up the corner along the same side and add in the other 2" screw on that edge.  The makes sure that my one side is perfectly flush.

Then I make sure the other corners are also flush and square and I screw them down.  Once I have the 4 2" spaced corners screwed down I screw everything else down starting from the center and work my way out.

STEP 5: Cornholey Moley, Batman!

The regulation size hole is 6" in Diameter placed 9" from the top of the board.

So...

Measure 9" down from the top of the board.
Measure the width of the top and divide it in half to find the center.

Mark it! Celebrate ~ Yay Center!

Next with a scrap piece of wood, paper or string measure measure out a 3" section to help us make a circle.

I used an old paint stirrer.  I placed a screw in one end, measured out 3" and drilled a hole in the other to hold my Sharpie (NOTE: I love Sharpies)

Place the screw tip on the mark you sketched on the board and rotate the pen around to create your 6" cicle.

Now, drill a pilot hole along the edge of your circle. It's better error on the side of too far inside the circle than too close to the line or over it.

Once you have your hole created, pull out the saber saw and follow the line to create the perfect circle!

STEP 6: "She Got Leggs..."

Ok, the last step...

Place the bolt in the hole and tap it down with a hammer so it is sceurely in place.  You don't want it to spin or rotate on you.

On the inside add a washer, then the leg, then another washer and finally the two hex nuts.

You wnat to tighten the hex nuts down pretty tight but not so much the leg can't rotate.  When you find a good place counter tighten the nuts, this will lock them in place.

To counter tighten you need two wrenches.  You rotate the bottom on up as if you were taking it off and the top one down like you are tightening it down.

I don't really do this part, I just tighten them down where I like them and leave them like that. (I only have one wrench right now)

You could also use locking nuts but why spend the extra $.10 on them when this works fine.

STEP 7: Conclusion:

Within a couple of hours you can have a nice corn hole set that will last a long time. 

Now go crazy with it...

Print off some stencils and create something totally unique.

Peace,
chwbcc

Special thanks to:
Lowes for being right across the street
Pie in the Sky Designs your bags are awesome!
My Mom, I'll bring the saw back the next time I am home.

And to my beautiful wife who lets me build stupid things like this in our garage. (BTW, I need to use the wheels from your bike, I hope you don't mind.)

42 Comments

Nice instructable! Very easy to follow.
I didn't want (drunk) people tripping on the legs and breaking them, so I reduced the angle opposite the ground and cut the legs shorter (12'' height from top of the board to the ground). I also attached an eye bolt to the front of both boards and strung a 27' rope between them, so no more confusion on how far apart to place them.
They were a hit last night!
(As for MSU and OSU.. pffffttt made these for some friends. I'm a LSU Tiger!)
Geaux Tigers! My wife is from Natchitoches but she's still a Tiger's fan, Me I'm more of a Nitty Lion myself. These look Great! Did you hand paint the logos with a stencil or are they decal?

AWESOME WORK!
Just a little update:

I finished the Walking Dead Cornhole Board. Check it out in my facebook gallery:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150590088607599.396720.500452598&type=3&l=00926b8b5d
Please tell me how you made the brian bags.
These were bought from a vendor on EBay. But I have since made more of these.

I cut the bags into the appropriate shapes the. Sewed them up leaving a small opening where the brain stem would be. Turn the bag right side out. Filled the bags with the right amount of corn and then sewed up the small section at the base of the brain.

Then all of the detailing is done with an airbrush and some hand painting using acrylic paints.

If you make a set, I would love to see some pics! Good luck.

Thanks for the tips! I think this is such a great idea. I will definitely send pics

I almost never comment. But thus is the most beautiful board I have ever seen. Thank you so much for this instructable. There are a lot out there and I loved this one.

what kind of fabric did you make your bags out of? Where did you find it?

Here is a link to Joanns:
http://www.joann.com/jo-ann-stores-duck-canvas-fabric/prd23683.html

Duck cloth is really durable and doesn't stretch and holds the embroidery really well. (You will need to use a backing on the embroidery though)

Do you know where you can find duck canvas with sports logos. I want to make the bags, but I cannot find the fabric.

You actually have to get the duck cloth embroidered with the logos on them. You can buy almost any logo bags on Ebay they usually run about $40-$70

Excellent, excellent boards!! I have been searching the Internet for paint schemes and believe your stained ones are at the top. I was curious what stain you used for the Eagles green and saints black. I have tried a semi transparent behr exterior which was not as dark as yours.

Thanks in advance

I asked at my Lowes paint person for a Darker Green and he said that some of the stains are actually tintable. This was an amazing discovery since I thought paints could be tinted.

Check out Minwax at Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Minwax-1-qt-Water-Based-Wood-Stain-61807/100376215

The stain i believe is minwax tintable stain. Ask the people in the paint department of your local hardware store about getting tinted stains. Just like paint they can tint the stain to what every you need.

The black was just the standard black stain.

I have started switching up the paint and stain though and now I am staining the wood and painting the colors. The reason is purely cost. Buying new stains for every board gets expensive.

So I have started staining the boards in walnut and using Apple Barrel paints. Then I put on a couple of coats of clear polyurethane (brush on not spray) and the boards look just as good if not better.

I would love to see what you come up with. Post some photos when you get them finished!
Thank you for the great instructable. Camping will be more fun than ever now!!
Hey I was wondering what you were using for the the polyurethane, i have tried a few different things, mostly canned versions with a few coats and have had varying success. Is there something that you think is superior. P.s. I really like your boards especially the undead one it looks great!
I use the spray polyurethane I found at Lowes. Bought three cans of it and put about 20-30 coats on them over two days. It's time consuming but worth it. If you think you have enough on them add 5 more coats! LOL

Over time the coating wears off depending on how much you play and for me that is okay because I like the WabiSabi look of worn things. We play about 10 times a year and there is still no wear on them. My Sister's kids play on theirs practically every day and they are finally starting to wear down.

You could try to use Epoxy resin and coat them like a bar top. Here is a video of that process but you might end up with a very slick playing surface.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7qyKCTwiMI

I hope this helps.
I had a lot of fun making these, making a circle with a jigsaw was quite harder than I thought it would be so I just ended up making them both a bit irregular. The set was a housewarming gift for a buddy of mine so I personalized it appropriately.
https://www.instructables.com/files/deriv/FVW/AIQA/HFPTIGEC/FVWAIQAHFPTIGEC.THUMB.jpg
THEY ARE AWESOME!!! Nothing like throwing few corn bags at your friend's head while you play!

Do you give out extra points if you cover his face?

Great work!
Great 'ible. I do have a question about the Walking dead board you are working on in the picture. Are you doing a toner transfer of the image or tracing it out and painting it or what? I'm looking at doing something similar and I am just curious.
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