How to Make a Cornhole Board Set For Your Family

A couple of years ago, my family attended a cookout at my friend’s house. We had a great time chatting, eating, and just messing around. While my son was bouncing off the walls with the other kids, I found a new love – cornhole, and new a cornhole board set would be in my future.

If you are not familiar with cornhole, it is a bean bag toss game where you throw bean bags at a raised platform, trying to get the bean bag in a hole.

The cornhole board set my friends had was a miniature plastic version and not a “real” set. Not too long after that cookout, I decided to make a regulation-sized cornhole board set and paint it with my favorite team’s logo.

Cornhole is a fun and easy game for the whole family. Here's how you can build your very own set! Click To Tweet

Cornhole Board Materials

1. 4 – 2×4 (Cut to the following length)
   1. 4 – 4’ long
   2. Four – 21” long
   3. 4 – 16” long
2. 40 – 2 ½ “ Wood Screws (Drywall Screws)
3. 2 – Plywood 2’x4’
4. Sandpaper (3 different grains)
   1. 100
   2. 150
   3. 220
5. Wood Filler
6. Drywall Spackle
7. 4 – 3/8 Carriage Bolts
8. Four – 3/8 Wing Nuts
9. 4 – 3/8 Washers

Building a Cornhole Board Set from Scratch

Making the Frame

First, start by cutting the 2×4 into the proper lengths.

You will need to have four pieces that are 4 feet long for the sides of the frame, four pieces that are 21 inches in size for the tops and bottom of the frame, and four pieces that are 16 inches in length for the legs.

Screw two of the 21-inch boards between two of the 4-foot boards, making a rectangle. All the boards should be lying on their sides while doing this.

Now that you have the frame built, it is time to put the playing surface on.

To do this, put a piece of plywood on top of the structure and place screws at each corner and every foot interval around the entire frame. In the end, you should have used a total of 12 screws attaching the playing surface to the frame.

Sanding Cornhole Boards

The next step is the hardest in the process. You need to sand all of the wood for a nice smooth finish.

Start sanding all surfaces with the roughest grain (100 for me). You are free to do this any way that you wish. I use a ¼ sheet electric sander. This really cuts down on the time that it takes to sand two large boards.

In the first cornhole board set, I made the mistake of sanding by hand, which took over 3 hours for just one round of sanding and made my shoulders extremely sore. I swore never to do that again, so I found a cheap electric sander on Craigslist for ten bucks.

Filling in Any Gaps on the Cornhole Boards

After cleaning all of the sawdust off of the boards (I just used a broom to sweep the dust off of the panels), use wood filler to fill in all gaps and cracks.

This is mainly used for the screw hole and gaps between the plywood.

Sanding Cornhole Boards Again and Spackling

Once the wood filler has dried, sand all of the surfaces again with the roughest grain sandpaper that you have (100). This will start to smooth out the wood filler.

Now you can switch to your medium grain sandpaper (150) and do a pass over the entire surface of all the boards. Then place the drywall Spackle all over the playing surface. This will ensure that your playing surface is super smooth.

Once the drywall Spackle has dried, use your medium grain sandpaper to sand down the playing surface again.

Are you tired of sanding yet?

Finally, you can use your finest grain sandpaper (220) to make one final pass over the entire surface of all of the boards.

Cutting the Holes for Your Cornhole Board Set

Mark a spot on the top of the board that is 9 inches from the top and 12 inches from a side.  This will be the center point of your hole.

Now you must draw a circle on your board that is 6 inches in diameter with the new mark that you had made at the center.

Below are a couple of different options that you have for cutting this hole.

1. Go to your local hardware store and buy a 6” diameter Drill Bit. This will ensure a nice even circle.
2. You can also drill as large a hole as you can with a drill bit. After you have drilled the hole you can use a hand saw to cut around the mark you have drawn.

Making Legs for a Cornhole Board Set

After cutting the hole, it is time to start working on the legs.

Start by taking each of the four 16” 2×4’s and find the center of the widest part of the board. The center is about one ¾“ of the 16″ 2×4.

Once you have found the center make a long line down the middle of the board. Turn the board over so that the playing surface is face down.

On the end of the board that has the hole take a scrap 2×4 and place it in a corner with the wide part flat against the top side of the board. Take the leg and place it in the same corner with the wide part of the leg against the side.

Using the line on the leg as a guide, mark the side of the playing board so that it lines up with the line on the leg. Make a mark that is halfway on the side of the playing board. This is the mark to drill the hole for the bolts.

Now line up the lines on the side of the board and the leg, place the scrap piece of wood directly behind the leg and place lots of pressure. Use a small drill bit to make a guide hole in the marked spot.

After drilling the guide hole, switch to a 3/8 drill bit to make the hole larger, and then place a carriage bolt through the side and through the leg.

Place the washer on so that it is next to the leg and screw the wing bolt on to lock the leg into place (you will be taking the legs off later to do some more cutting).

Now repeats these steps for each of the remaining three cornhole board legs.

Once all of the legs are attached, you can remove them one at a time. On the legs, round off the end around the hole, making sure you do not cut too close to the hole. This rounding will allow the legs to fold in and out.

Once you have cut a round shape on each of the legs’ ends, place them back in the proper spot and tighten them down.

Next, you must find a table surface that is large enough to place the whole board on. On the top end of the board, put something under the end and measure from the table to the top of the board. Place enough under the board to raise it 12” off the table. Ensure that one leg is folded entirely out (the other should still be folded up), hanging over the side of the table, and is flat against the edge of the table.

Place a pencil at the edge of the table and draw a straight line along the table on the leg. This will allow you to cut the bottom part of the leg at an angle that will let it sit on the ground flat and level. Do this to the other leg as well.

Now when you measure from the floor to the top of the back of the board, it should be sitting at 12” when the legs are folded out.

You now have a fun activity to play outside with your family.. Wait! Is something missing? I am sure you have a favorite team you would like to support.

Keep reading and get some help with your cornhole painting endeavors.

How to Paint a Cornhole Board Set

Now that you know how to make a cornhole board set, you may want to snazz them up by painting them.

For this example, I have chosen to paint mine University of Kentucky Blue and White with the UK block letter logo on the playing surface.

I am also adding all of the years that Kentucky has won the college basketball national championship.  Along one long side, I am putting “KENTUCKY,” on the other long side “WILDCATS,” and along the bottom edge “NO 1 GR8TR”.

Creating Stencils for a Cornhole Board

1. First, I created a stencil for the Block UK. I found a picture on the Internet that I liked, printed it out, and decided that doubling the dimensions of the logo would be just about the right size for my cornhole board set.  I measured each area and drew the dimensions that I needed on a piece of poster board.
2. Next, I created a stencil for the numbers for the years. I found a picture of block numbers on the Internet, printed them out, and decided that the numbers were the right size for my board. I then created the numbers on my poster board.
3. The last stencils I needed were for all of the letters along the board’s sides and bottom. The sides are all 4 inches, so I decided to make the letters on the side 3” tall and 2 ½ “ wide. To do this, I created a grid with lines every ¼“ and drew the block letters on the poster board accordingly.

Painting Corn Hole Boards

First, I painted the playing surface and the sides of the cornhole board with white latex paint.

After the paint dried, I started taping up the board. I started with a 2” painter’s tape around the edge of the playing surface.

I also placed painter’s tape on the sides and bottom of the boards and put enough tape for the logo and years to go on the playing surface.

Next, I took each of the stencils and drew them on the painter’s tape (just like I did with the Mario Room Mural).

Using a razor knife, I cut around the areas I just drew on the board. Then I peeled off all of the tapes leaving only the places that I wanted to be white.

I then painted the entire board blue. After the blue paint dried, I peeled off the rest of the tape, leaving behind the white areas and my cornhole board design.

 

You can use this principle to decorate your cornhole board set however you like (below is a couple of other cornhole boards I have made).

Have you ever played cornhole before?