Cornhole board building
From Cornhole Wiki
This section will have very basic steps for building cornhole boards.
We will also have a links section that will direct to various places where you can get information for building cornhole boards.
Contents |
[edit] Cornhole Board Styles
[edit] 4'x2' Official Size Boards
Measure 4'x2'. 12" tall in the rear, and 3.5" to 4" tall in the front. The hole is 6" centered, and 9" on center from the back.
[edit] 3'x2' Tailgating Size Boards
Measure a foot shorter than the official boards ( 3'x2' ), and are commonly called travel boards due to their portable size.
[edit] Hole Only Boxes
Made for skill games and challenges. The box includes a 6" hole, but no platform around it. These are a fun way to practice your cornhole bag tossing accuracy.
[edit] Building Boards Without Power Tools (almost)
Lowe's will make your cuts for you. Well, most of your cuts.
You're going to have one major problem. You're going to have to find a way to cut the hole, because Lowe's will not do that for you. A cheap jigsaw can be bought for around $25, so that may be an option, or just try to find someone to lend a jigsaw to you. The other thing is, you are definitely going to need a drill. Now, most folks have a drill that you can borrow, or again, you can just buy a really cheap one for around $25. You may also want to consider renting the tools for Rental World or Home Depot etc etc.
This is the most simple set of instructions and design I've ever compiled.. I just came up with it off the top of my head for you. I really do hope it helps.
Tools:
- -Drill
- -Jig saw or 6" hole saw for drill
- -The cheapest hand saw that Lowe's or Home Depot has. (Should be around $5.00)
- -Tape measure or ruler
Materials:
- -One 4 x4 sheet of plywood, 1/2" or thicker
- -Four 2" x 4" x 8' (two by fours)
- -56, 3" exterior screws
Directions:
Have Lowe's cut your wood like this:
- -The 4' x 4' piece of plywood needs to be cut in half, so you are left with two pieces that are 24" x 48".
For your "two-by-fours":
- -Four at 45"
- -Four at 24"
- -Four at 16"
- -*****Keep all the scrap pieces!*****
Go home.
- -Lay down one piece of plywood, with the side you want as your top, facing up. Grab a 24" section of wood, put it under a 24" side of your plywood, and screw it on using three screws.
- -Take a 45" section, and screw it onto one of the sides of your plywood, using 5 screws. *****Basically, I'm sure you see where this is going. You are going to take the pieces of wood you just had cut, and make essentially a box(your frame), by attaching it to your plywood(top deck). You also want to attach each frame piece to each other with two screws.
- -Once you have the "box" built, you need to cut your hole. Measure across the 24" section and find the center. If the guy at Lowe's did it right, it should be at 12". Then, from that mark, emasure down 9". Double check your measurements and make a mark. This is where the center of your hole is. If you're using the jigsaw, you will want to measure 3" out from this center mark, and make another mark. Repeat this and make many many marks that are 3" out from that center mark you made originally. Now play connect the dots and you should have a 6" wide circle, with the center being the mark you made first. Close to, but inside the circle you just drew, drill a hole. If you don't have a drill bit, sink a screw in it, then remove the screw, then sink another one next to it, remove that, and repeat. The goal here is to make a hole in the wood that is about 1/4" big, so you can get your jigsaw blade in there.
- -Once you're able to get your jigsaw blade in the hole, well, cut your hole.
Now it's leg making time. Your legs are going to be made from your 16" pieces that are left. Because you don't have access to tools, we have to use an entirely different leg technique. The big picture here is to make a small sleeve(box) for your leg pieces to slide into. You're going to mount this small sleeve to the underside corners of your boards, and your legs will slide into them when you're ready to play. It's actually quite simple. You are going to need to cut one of your scrap pieces(not your 16" leg pieces) of 2 x 4 into the following sections:
- -Four at 3 1/2"
- -Four at 3"
You are trying to build something like the following diagram. The place where the actual leg pieces would be inserted are colored in red.
- -So, you want to lay out your pieces and screw them into each other, and into the frame, from the outside of the frame, in towards the sleeve.
Now you have to cut your legs to the proper height. Easy stuff. Stick something, anything under your boards until the back sits at exactly 12" high. Grab your 16" leg pieces, and hold them up to where THE FRAME MEETS THE DECK, not the top of the deck itself. Make a mark, cut along that mark, insert your legs, and you're done.
Milky
References
[edit] Attaching the top deck to the frame
Screws are by far, the sturdiest way to build a board, period.
For a combination of speed and strenght, try a nail gun. The nail gun is efficient, fast, and does build a sturdy board.
Using a nail gun for the 2x4 frame can leave you with weak corners. For added strength, sink a screw into each frame corner(4 screws total).
CHP Milky's Exact Method -
I use 16 gauge nails, 3 along the top and bottom, 7 down each side, two nails connecting each frame piece, and one of my standard 3" coarse thread exterior screws in each corner of the frame. This new configuration went through my stress test, and held up like a champion! I'd recommend it to anyone.
References
Related Links
[edit] Drilling the Leg Hole
from CHP member dcrog
I take a short piece of 2x4 and figure out where I want to drill my hole with my drill press. Take the measurements from the back side of the board, since there are always slight variations in the lumber and construction. I also clip a small 45 degree angle off of the corner that will be going in the corner between the deck and the frame, in case there is a little bit of glue or whatnot in the corner. This corner keeps me oriented on how to place the guide to the board. Then take a hand drill and drill my hole through the side rail. Starting it through the 2 by keeps the drill bit square with the side rail. Since it is cut square in the miter box and drilled square with the press the hole is always exactly the same distance from the top of the board and from the inside edge of the back rail. I haven't measure a hole it a long time.
from CHP member Milky Measure 4 1/4" down from the top(hole side), outside edge of the frame, and mark that. Find the center of your 3" side of your frame and mark that. Where these two marks meet up, drill your hole. You can also refer to this, and just change the "half way" measurement to reflect 2 x 3's.
