Hey everyone, today I'll be showing you how I made my own disc golf basket. I first thought about making one last fall as the season was coming to an end. I figured if I could make my own I could practice all winter and when the season came back around, I would already be in perfect form! Unfortunately my constant 3 putts make it pretty obvious that it never happened. However, I was cleaning out my yard last week and realized I already had everything I need to make one under my stairs. I immediately scrapped the yard work and went full force on the basket. Today I'll be showing you how it came together and teaching you how to make your own from whatever youmay have lying around.

I will be building the basket in the sections:

Chain Assembly
Basket
Support

Supplies

Tools:

Utility Knife

Jig Saw (or hacksa

Miter Saw

Step 1: Materials Required

Any number of materials could be used to build a disc golf basket. I'll be showing you how I made one with what I have but regardless of what you use, just know you have to build four main components. These are:

Chains
Basket
Top Support (Chain Support)
Pole / Support

Here I have a list of what I used to build the basket as well as some other options I think could work. It's fine if you don't have the exact materials I use, just get creative with whatever you've got and make it work! Feel free to go through it if you want but otherwise let's get in to building it!

Chains

Scrap Leather

Other options

Hose or Rope
Old jeans or towels

Basket

Hose
Wire Garden Fencing

Other options:

Coat Hangers
Scrap Wood
Garbage Can

Top Support

Pegboard
Scrap Leather

Other options:

Bike Wheel
Scrap Wood
Garbage Can Lid

Pole / Support

Wood Stake
Scrap 2 x 4 's
Scrap plywood (~ 6" x 6")
Scrap Metal Rods (From old garbage slide out)

Other Options:

Shovel pole
PVC pipe
Fence Post

Step 2: Make the Chains

The first part I made was the chains and support for them. I started here because it was the part I was most excited to make and would also likely be the most difficult. I wanted to make sure it worked well first, otherwise building the rest of the basket would be a waste.

Step 1 - Chains

You will need to make 24 chains total:

12 Outer chains - 26" long
12 Inner chains - 22" long

To make my chains I took scrap belt ends and stitched them together until I had the desired length. It turned out I only had enough for the 12 outer chains so I made the inner chains in a different way. Luckily, this method can be used with a variety of materials so you will likely have something lying around. I used some old leather that's been collecting dust for ages but anything from an old pair of jeans or towels could work.

Gather Materials
- Leather, Old Jeans, Towels, etc
- Glue
Cut out 48 strips of fabric roughly 1.25" x 26"
Glue strips together back to back to end up with 24 strips (Chains)
Cut to desired length (12 - 26" and 12 - 22")
Punch a small hole in both ends
Tie small loops with string at one end of the chains

Once the chains were made I went ahead and made two circles for the chains to connect to. I cut a small strip of leather and added a buckle to the ends to form a loop.

Step 3: Make the Chain Support

For the chain assembly I used some peg board. This stuff is nice and light plus it already has holes in it which make it easy to attach the chains. I would even recommend getting a small piece of the stuff if you don't have any lying around the garage. The stuff worked perfectly although we'll have to see how it holds up to the weather.

If you don't have pegboard you could also use any kind of scrap plywood. I've also seen people use bike wheels which would be perfect if it were the right size! Unfortunately I don't have any old bike wheels lying around so for now I'll be sticking with pegboard.

Making the chain assembly was actually quite simple this way.

Using a nail and string, draw a 22" circle on the pegboard
Cut out the circle with a jigsaw
Add support if using pegboard (I used 1 x 2's)

Step 4: Finish the Chain Assembly

Now that we have chains and the support for them, we are ready to attach to the chains. I arranged the chains the same pattern as the baskets at my local course to make it as accurate as possible. I took some quick measurements and then I was ready to attach my chains.

To finish this part of the basket there are 3 steps left:

Lay out the chain positions
Attach the chains
Attach the Pole

Lay Out the Chain Locations

The image should help with the layout of the chains but it is essentially the following:

12 Outer chains spaced evenly apart - 1" from the edge of the pegboard
6 Mid chains spaced in every second gap of outer row - 3.5" from the edge
6 Inner chains in remaining gaps from outer row

I just grabbed a marker and eyeballed the outer chains. I marked about 1 inch in from the edge and tried to space them out as evenly as possible (start with 4 quarters and fill in the gaps). For the inner chains I eyeballed the spacing but used a ruler to accurately mark the distance from the edge.

Finish the Chain Assembly

Now that I knew where to attach the chains I went ahead and tied them in to the appropriate spots. Remember to use the longer chains for the outer ring. With the chains attached I then screwed a wood stake into the center and attached the bottoms of the chains to the leather loops.

Step 5: Making the Basket - Materials

There are a bunch of different way to make a basket. Some much easier than others but your method will have to depend on what you have and how picky you are. The goal here is to make a basket that is roughly 26" in diameter and 6 - 8" inches deep.

Here are some supplies that might be useful:

Scrap wood
Wire fencing
Hoses
Coat Hangers
Tire
Garbage Can

At first I made a basket but cutting up old 1 x 2's to make an octagonal basket. This thing was super quick and worked well for what it was but it just didn't cut it for me. I then realized that some of the old yard and garden supplies I found would be perfect. I ended up using wire fencing and a hose to make my basket.

Whatever you choose to work with just remember you need about a 26" circle and some way to support it.

Step 6: Make Hoops for the Basket

Getting the basket made took a lot of experimenting and fumbling around to figure out. Luckily I went through the frustration so that hopefully you won't have to. Through trial and error I was able to find a relatively easy way to make the basket and I've summarized it below for you. The basket I ended up with consists of hose, wire fence, and tape.

The first step is to make two hoops out of hose. This will not only form the circle but it'll also save your hands and discs by covering up any sharp bits of wire.

Cut a length of hose 82" long. (This will result in 26" diameter)
Tape the ends of the hose together to form a hoop
Lay the hoop flat and cut a slit in the hose
Repeat to have 2 hoops total

Step 7: Make the Wire Basket

The actual basket will be made from wire fencing. I think this stuff was intended to outline a garden at one point but it'l be better served catching discs. You will need enough of these to form an 82" chain which was only 5 of these ones, looks like I'll be making a lot of these!

Start by rounding the pieces by bending them
- Use the hose as a guide for how much to bend them
Repeat for enough pieces to have 82" in length
Form a basket by connecting the individual pieces in a chain
Clip any excess wire from the top and bottom

Step 8: Attach the Hose and Bottom Wire

Now we are ready to finish up the main part of the basket. All we have left is the following:

Cover the top/bottom rims with hose
Tape the hose together
Add wire to the side and bottom of the basket

For the bottom rim I used a bunch of filament tape to seal the hose. It's not the prettiest thing around but it works well and I might even try to paint it at some point.

For the top rim I added some small pieces of wire to support the piece I will run around the middle of the basket. You can see in the pictures how I fastened them but honestly this part was overkill and extremely frustrating to boot. I would recommend just taping it up the same as the bottom.

Lastly I ran a wire about halfway up along the edge and added a wire grid to the bottom. I only added enough to make sure the discs wouldn't fit through any gaps.

Now the basket is done and we can move to finding a way to make this thing stand!

Step 9: Make Support for the Basket

I wanted to make the basket in a way that it could be easily taken apart and moved around. To do this I made a separate piece for the basket to sit on.

Here's how I made it:

Cut out a small circle from scrap plywood
Cut a square out from the center using a drill and jig saw
Drill 4 holes into the edge of the circle
Cut 4 metal dowels to support the basket
Insert metal dowels - Use tape or glue for a secure fit

I used wood for the middle support because it's easy to work with and I had the perfect piece left over. I also went with stronger metal dowels instead of the same fencing for support. The wire is great for forming the basket but isn't strong enough to actually support the basket. I used and old garbage slide out rack and cut the dowels with a jig saw but also had metal shelving and scrap wood. I went with the garbage rack because I think the shelf and wood will be much easier to use in other projects.

Step 10: Build the Base / Support

For the Base I decided to make a support that the wood stake could just slide in to. I just took a couple of 2x4's and cut them to the same length with a miter saw. Then using a wood stake for reference I screwed them together in a way that let the stake slide in and out. Once I had the insert made I screwed a short 1 x 2 to the bottoms to keep it standing up right.

Cut 4 - 2 x 4's to the same length
- I used ~ 2 feet because my board were that long
Screw two 2 x 4 's together as shown in the picture
- The left edge of the bottom board is aligned with the stake
Continue this process until all four boards are together
Cut 4 more boards to the same length
- I used 1 x 2's that were already around 1 foot long
Screw the boards to the bottom of the tower to act as feet

Step 11: Assemble the Basket - Done!

The basket is done!

All we have to do now is assemble the basket and start practicing those putts. Simply place the basket support on top of the base, put the basket on top, and slide the chain rack in to place. I also put a small piece of wood stake at the bottom to allow the chains to sit higher. (A longer stake would also do the trick). I also ended up adding 2 screws to secure the basket support to the base.

All in all I'm pretty happy with how this thing turned out. It catches well and it's really easy to move around the yard, plus it was absolutely free which is really all I could ask for. Good luck with your own baskets and feel free to share what you make. I have a few ideas to make this much more easily and better functioning and will probably end up making a few more in the future, but for now I'm off to practice some putts!