Introduction: PVC ~ Ladder Toss

About: I am a QA Reviewer for a start-up called Swim. My education background is in Business Management and Finance. I love doing anything active, ranges from different sports to cooking. I spend a good amount of tim…

Ladder Toss (Definition): An outdoor game played with friends or fellow mates that involves throwing 2 balls on a string towards a ladder shaped object. Object of the game is hook the 2 balls on the the string around the ladder shaped object. The team with the most balls hanging wins the game.

Wikipedia Definition: Ladder toss is a lawn game played by throwing bolas (two balls connected by a string) onto a ladder.

Rules: One common method of scoring is to have the rungs be one, two and three points. In one variety the top is worth1, middle is 2, and bottom is 3. Points are tallied at the end of each round, after all teams have thrown their bolas. The bolas suspended on the ladder score the points for that rung, often with the goal of getting at least 21 points to win.

Another variety of scoring would be 1pt for the bottom rung, 2pts for the middle, 3pts for the top, and if you have a bola on each of the rungs, that's an automatic 10pts. (Wikipedia.org)

I always like to include why I do these projects: I planned to go beach camping with friends and thought it would be fun to have an outdoor game to pass time and have some friendly competition.

Step 1: Tools and Materials

Tools

1. Black Marker

2. Ruler or a Measuring Device

3. Pipe Cutter (works the best and leaves no mess) or Hand Saw

4. Lighter

5. Drill and Drill bits (9/64 and 15/64) ~ The drill bits can vary

6. Vicegrips or Channel Locks

Materials

1. (4) 1/2 x 10' PVC Pipe ($1.89 a piece)

2. (8) 1/2 PVC Caps ($.25 x 8 = $2.00)

3. (12) 1/2 PVC Tee's ($.34 x 12 = $4.08)

4. (4) 1/2 PVC Elbows ($.22 x 4 = $.88) If, I were to redo this project I would buy a total of (12) for a better stable base

5. 30 Feet of Nylon Rope (Rough Guestimate, My friend had some rope lying around)

6. (16) Golf Balls ~ I ended up getting 30 pack because it was cheaper and wanted to have extra just in case I lost any. ($12.74 from Big 5 with 10% discount)


Step 2: Marking the Pipes and Cutting to Size

Mark the pipe with a marker or pencil to get an accurate cut.

You will be using 1/2" x 10' PVC Piping.

These are measurement for the cuts.


1. (8) 7 3/4" ~ The Base of the Ladder

2. (12) 13 1/2" ~ The Sides of the Ladder

3. (6) 25 1/2" ~ The Connector/Middle of the Ladder


Forgive me for I forgot to take pictures of how to set up the Pipe cutter.
Place the cutter where you need to make your cuts.

These cuts will allow you to make a pair of the Ladder Toss.

Step 3: Putting It Together

1. Take (2) 7 3/4" Pipe, (2) Caps, & (1) Tee's ~ Do this Four times in order to create the base of the ladder

Order Should Go ~ Cap-Pipe-Tee-Pipe-Cap (Left to Right or Right to Left)

2. Take (3) 13 1/2" Pipe, (2) Tee's, & (1) Elbow ~ Do this Four times in order to create the sides of the ladder

Order Should Go ~ Pipe-Tee-Pipe-Tee-Pipe-Elbow (Bottom to Top)

3. Take (3) 25 1/2" Pipe ~ Connect the sides together with the 25 1/2" Piping ~ Do this Two times

4. Once the middle and sides are connected. Take the base and put it together with the sides.


There you go! Your Ladder Toss is all put together.

Step 4: Drilling the Balls

1. Take a some Vicegrips or Channel lock Pliers and hold the golf ball.

2. Take your drill with a smaller bit to start your pilot hole into the golf ball. (9/64 Drill Bit)

[During this process of drill holes into the golf ball I would suggest using a Face Mask to protect yourself from the fumes exposed when drilling. Its very rancid and bad for your health] Safety First!

3. After Drilling your pilot hole follow through with another Drill bit. (15/64 Drill Bit)

4. After all your holes are made in the golf ball take a Razor to clean up the left over pieces.

Take your time while drilling the golf balls because the material of the golf balls can get very hot and burn the skin to the touch.

Step 5: Tying the Knot

Tying the Knot is the last step to this build journey but it will start a new journey into fun times with friends.

1. Take the Rope and Lighter - ignite and burn the end of the Rope in order to melt the string and make it easier to feed it through the Golf Ball.

2. After feeding it through the Golf Ball tie your first Knot at one end of Rope. There will be a total of 4 Knots total in Rope.

[Knot - Golf Ball - Knot ------------(1 foot of Rope)------------ Knot - Golf Ball - Knot]

3. Cutting the Rope to size. We kinda just guestimated through this process, We took the first one that we made and just measured based off that one.

4. At the end of the Knots, take the lighter again and burn/melt the Knot. This will prevent the Knot to not come undone when tossing it around.

5. Repeat this process in order to have a set of 8 (4 for each team).




Step 6: Having Fun

Final step!

1. Grab some friends

2. Go to an open area

3. Go have fun!

I hope you guys like this instruct!able! If, you guys get the chance to make this project share it in the comment section! Thanks for your time and support!


Thanks to my friend Esteban S. for giving me a hand with this project. It would have not been possible without his help!

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