1-DIMENSIONS ..... 2-SUPPLIES ..... 3-BUILD

STEP 3: MAKE THE BOARDS

The first step to building your cornhole table is to cut your wood. The 2x4s will be cut for our frames and legs. You'll need 4 boards for each of the following lengths:

4 feet
21 inches
11 5/8 inches

Cut the 2x4s with a mitre saw if available or a hand saw (use a mitre box to make sure your cut is nice and straight). Don't forget to factor in the saw blade's width. Because of this I suggest you measure, cut, measure, cut, and so on rather than make all your measurements at once.

Measure and cut your plywood to size. One side should already be 4 feet long so now just cut it to be 2 feet wide. If available, use a circular saw or table saw, but this could also be done carefully with a regular old hand saw. I wanted a nice straight edge so I fastened the other piece of plywood down next to my line so I could run my saw along it as a guide.

Your newly resized pieces of wood should look like this.

Consruct your cornhole table's wood frame with the 2x4's and screws. I used 3" drywall screws. I also used a couple of clamps to hold the frame together nice and tight. Drill your hole first with a drill bit a little smaller in diameter than your screws to make sure your wood doesn't split.

This is what you should end up with when its all put together:

Now put your plywood surface on the frame and screw it down (pre-drill the holes again). We used eight or ten long screws.

Make sure you counter-sink the screws just enough that you can cover over them with some putty later on.

Next come the legs of your cornhole board. Most people who have gone on before you would probably agree this can be the trickiest part. Try to visualize your leg connected at a 90 degree angle from the raised end of your cornhole board and extending down where the 2x4 meets the ground at an angle. For ultimate stability we want the end of the leg to make full contact with the ground so we'll need to cut it off at this angle. The picture to your left illustrates what we're shooting for in the end.

First take a 2x4 that is long enough to make both legs - at least 2 ft. Use something like a protractor (remember those things from geometry?) to mark the line to be cut for the angled portion of our legs in the middle of this board. You'll want this angle to be around 99 degrees from the long side of the leg. Make this cut first. You'll find that you now have two boards with the exact same angle which is exactly what we wanted. Then measure out the lengths of your legs - the long end should measure about 11 5/8". You can make 90 degree cuts at the other end of the leg to get the right length now. If this doesn't make much sense check out the plan to your left.

You might want to double check the cuts you've made at this point. Hold your newly cut legs in place and confirm the height of your boards with a measuring tape. Remember you'll want the raised portion of your cornhole board to measure 12" off the ground when its set up. You can also double check your angled cut with a thingamajig like I've shown here (its actually called a sliding bevel).

You can then transfer this angle to your legs (or a new board if you really fouled it up) and make the necessary adjustments. The first time I did this I left the legs a little long and then trimmed things here and there until I had it just right. (Another option would be to become an engineer. Then I'm sure you could use your superior brain to calculate the exact measurements and laugh at us all when your cornhole table stays standing for eons and eons. For the rest of us I'm just trying to keep this a little more simple.)

Next we're going to make some more markings on our legs. Mark where the carriage bolt will pass through the leg by drawing a line 1 3/4" from the side and end of the leg. Where these two lines intersect as your center point use a compass to draw a half circle extending out to the edges of the board like shown.

Next, mark the hole for your bolt. To make it easy I marked 3.25" (1.5" for the frame plus 1.75" for the leg) down from the top and 1.75" in from the sides of the table frame like in the picture below. This made it so the hole will go through the center of the leg when its positioned in the upper corner of the table. However you choose to position your legs, just make sure they strengthen the table against hours and hours of flying sacks of corn. Confirm your measurements then make a little divot with an extra screw to guide the tip of your drill bit.

Drill a 3/8" hole through the side of your table and leg. You'll notice I used clamps to hold things in place and I've got an extra board clamped in down below. This extra board will help me get a nice clean hole all the way through each piece of wood. Do it this way if you've got some clamps handy. (I had a clamp on the other side of the leg as well, but removed it for the picture.)

This is another good place to make sure your leg is cut the correct length. Slide a carriage bolt through the side of the table and the leg and stand your Cornhole board up on a flat surface. Make sure its 12" off the ground and if not, make some adjustments.

You'll notice your leg isn't going to do any folding away in the shape it is now. Using your mitre or hand saw, make several cuts to rough out that rounded end you sketched.

Clean up your cuts with sandpaper and don't worry about it being perfect. Nobody will see this part of your board unless they've passed out from exhaustion and fallen under your board. (This actually happens quite regularly to the serious player.)

Now that your legs are properly trimmed assemble your bolts, washers, and wing nuts.

Sliding the carriage bolt through the hole on the table you'll find the square shoulder of the bolt keeps things from becoming nice and flush. Take a hammer and tap the carriage bolt into the wood frame until it and the washer are flush with the wood surface.

You can see I've created a square hole that the bolt's shoulder will now fit. The bolt will now sit flush with the board and this also keeps your carriage bolt from turning when you tighten the nut.

Put the bolt, washers, and nut in place but don't tighten things down quite yet.

Make sure your leg is freely moveable from the playing position...

...to the folded away position. The leg should move without difficulty. If not, try to determine what's keeping it from moving and fix it.

What kind of cornhole table doesn't have a hole?! Mark the center of the hole - 9" from the top end of the board and 12" from either side. Use a compass or something of the sort to draw a circle six inches in diameter. (You can use a pencil tied to a piece of string if you need to.)

Use the largest drill bit you have to make a good pilot hole for the starting point of your saw just inside the circle.

Now insert the blade of your jig saw into the pilot hole you just made. Cut out the hole as carefully as you can.

Any minor discrepancies can be cleaned up with sand paper. Wrapping it around a round object will help here.

Tada! Now set up your tables, take a step back and admire your work. You finally have your own cornhole set! Next we'll talk about painting the cornhole tables and then making the bags.

Prev Next