Introduction: Chevron Corn Hole Set

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About: I'm a DIYer and creator likes to build, capture, and share my creations.

Normally, I have a full video of my projects to go alone with my articles. However, this build was a while back but I am super proud with how it came out as I had minimal tools at the time (which means you can likely build your own too pretty easily!). If you want to check out my video builds, you can find them on my Youtube Channel linked above.

Below is a list of of materials / tools and a full set of written steps that you'll want to have to build your own corn hole set!

Step 1: Gather Materials and Tools!

Making your own corn hole set is actually quite straight forward. Below is how I did it!

MATERIALS

TOOLS

Step 2: Rip Your Plywood in Half

This was a gift for someone for their wedding - my Fiance, Brooke, had done her Pinterest homework and found three different designs that we both liked, so I decided to combine all three of them in my build.

Some people who are corn hole snobs might say this design violates every rule in the book.

I don't care. They look awesome and work great. Deal with it.

So...I started off by cutting the plywood in half using a piece of whitewood as a straight guide and some clamps. Measure three times. Cut twice.

Wait. What?

Step 3: Cut Your Chevron Pieces (Lots of Em!)

Next, used my Miter Saw to cut 40 chevron pieces all at 45°.

The second picture shows me testing first cut for precision and length. Using the right angle square was perfect for checking the angle as well as drawing a straight line down the middle (square was 12", boards were 24" wide).

The third picture shows me making sure 40 would enough. I could use excess pieces cut away to fill the small gaps at the top and bottom. You'll see this later.

I cut each piece about an inch longer than needed to allow for extra length on the outsides to square up later. If you're building this, you should be able to get 5 pieces per 8ft whitewood board.

Step 4: Sanding Pieces

First pictures shows my final 40 pieces that I cut and sanded down to get rid of any tear out. Only took about 10-15 minutes overall.

Step 5: Color: Round 1

I then laid out all of my pieces in preparation for staining. I wanted to give them a dark base coat so that when I painted them later on with watery paint, the dark wood stain would show through better.

I then stained with a Minwax Stain I had lying around called "Early American". One coat was plenty. Almost looked like hardwood flooring!

Step 6: Building Your Boxes

While the stain dried, I cut 2 x 4's to length for the base. Luckily, I had extra whitewood as I didn't buy enough 2 x 4's...connected them using 2.5" wood screws.

The dimensions of the box are 2' x 4', so you'll cut your base pieces to fit those dimensions however you see fit.

In Picture 2, I glued the plywood down, held in place with finish nails, and then ultimately screwed down with 1" wood screws. Solid. I then flipped them over and stained the sides to match the top in Picture 3.

Step 7: Color: Round 2

For the look of the tops, I wanted a rustic/weathered vibe. I was glad I had kept left over paints and stains from painting my apartment and other DIY projects as they were the perfect combination to achieve the look I wanted.

To get a thinner coat that allowed the paint to go on easier and have the base wood stain show through better (as if it had been weathered down), I did 2 parts paint, one part water. Painting them individually before attaching to the boards was definitely the way to go. I was stoked at how it came out.

Step 8: Build and Attach Your Legs

Onto the legs. The tops of these need to be round so they can rotate 90° when setting up. Didn't have a compass (I bought one the next morning to cut the hole) to mark the rounding off of the tops, so I improvised using this adjustable wrench. I'd also call this a success.

I couldn't find my jigsaw blade to cut these individually, so I resorted to clamping my pieces together (Picture 2) and using my belt sander, which took more time but worked out pretty well. I found my blade the next day...

I used 4" carriage bolts (Picture 3) to attach the legs to the main frame by drilling a pilot hole and then hammering them in. This step was oddly difficult to measure and get things lined up, but they came out great in the end as I took my time.

Step 9: Assemble Your Final Box and Cut to Size

This step is only necessary if you're making a cool design on top. If you're not doing this, skip to the next step.

Lining up for the final design and glue down. I had done a bit of mental math to make sure that the excess pieces I'd cut off could fill in the smaller spaces that didn't require full slats.

I used wood glue and finish nails to hold everything in place while it dried (Picture 2). It was, at this point, that I realized it was nearly 3pm and I had not eaten anything the entire day...so I took a break while it all dried.No pictures of my food unfortunately.

Using the spare piece of whitewood and clamps (Picture 3), I marked a very precise straight edge and squared up all the sides with my circular saw. Picture 4 shows everything squared up and nearly finished. At this point, I put a cork in it for the day as I needed more tools to complete the job and I was exhausted...

Step 10: Cut Your Corn Hole (lol)

Day 2: Compass has been purchased and I found my jigsaw blade. Time to finish this baby. I used the compass to measure a 6" diameter hole that had a center 9" down from the top. Then, I used a half inch drill bit to make a pilot hole.

Picture 2 shows them cut out. I sanded down the insides of them lightly so the edges weren't so sharp for when hands reached through them.

Step 11: Trim Your Legs

Because corn hole sets sit at an angle, I needed to cut off a small piece on each of the legs so they would sit flush with the ground. I can't remember this angle - maybe 15° or so - just do your own measuring and you'll figure it out no problem. If you've made it this far - you're resourceful enough to finish this thing out!

Step 12: Admire Your Final Work!

I hate it when I make something for someone else and it turns out so good that I regret not being able to keep it for myself...we also ended up purchasing a set of personalized corn hole bags for the gift.

If you want to know any materials, tools, or have any general questions answered, you can check out the second step or contact me via my website, thecuttingbored.com and I would be happy to do answer them.

As always, thank you for reading! I would be so grateful if you could please subscribe to my Youtube Channel for future projects.

I put out videos every few weeks.

Cheers! Zach