How to Build a Cornhole Toss
We threw a baseball themed party for Nick’s Graduation! Doug worked super hard on a Cornhole Toss not only for the party, but also to play during Tailgate Parties at Franklin College.
Are you ready to learn How to build a Cornhole Toss ? Let’s do it!
We decided it would be fun to add the Franklin College logo, but you can certainly paint it any color you like or even add your favorite team logo.
How to build a Cornhole Toss
Supplies:
- 3/4″ Plywood for Tops
- four 2″x4″ 8 foot long
- four 3/8″x 4″ hex bolts
- eight 3/8″ flat washers
- eight 3/8″ lock nuts
Cut Wood to the following dimensions…
First rip all the 2″x4″ down to a 1 1/2″x3″ dimension. I did’t have an easy way to rip cut the boards so I enlisted the help of my local lumber store, it only cost me a couple bucks and some time but it was well worth it.
- Tops – 24″ x 48″
- Side Rails – 48″ long
- End Rails – 21″ long
Legs, these are a little tricky to describe so here’s a drawing to follow.
Credit
Now we move on to the Assembly…
- Measure in 3/4″ from the ends of each side rail and drill two evenly spaced pilot holes for the deck screws
- Glue and screw corners, making sure they are flush and square
- Test fit the top and once you are confident of the fit drill pilot holes every 6 inches around the perimeter
- Glue and screw top to frame with 1 5/8″ deck screws, countersink the screw heads and fill with wood putty
- Once the glue has dried you can proceed to cut the hole in the plywood, place the hole centered 9″ from the top. The hole diameter is 6″, I tried to rent a 6″ hole saw but could not find one so I needed to improvise. After a little searching I found an old railroad lantern we use to decorate with that had a perfect 6″ base to draw around
- Next, cut out the circle, I used a jigsaw but you can use a plunge router or zipsaw if you have those available to use
- Finally, drill a 3/8″ hole in the side rails 3 9/16″ from the top for the legs an attach with the hex bolts and double nut
Painting and finish
- After you have finished the construction, grab your can of wood putty and fill in any imperfections in the playing surface. I used 3/4″ birch plywood so the finish was already pretty smooth but there were some chips and rough spots from cutting
- After the putty dries, sand smooth, also sand the edges of the hole to take the sharp corners off
- First, apply a primer to the surface and rails
- We’re dressing our Cornhole Toss up with a college logo, and two-tone paint. When using two colors of paint on a project always apply the lighter of the two first it’s easier to cover that way.
- Then, I painted the bottom third of the board yellow
- After the yellow had dries for 24 hours I masked off the edge that I wanted with some Frog Tape Delicate Surface tape and applied a light coat of yellow to the edge of the tape that will be the final edge. Let dry for 1 hour
- Then I painted the rest of the board Navy blue
- After about 30 minutes take an exacto knife and lightly score along the edge of the tape and pull off for a clean edge
- Then we let it dry again for another 24 hours then we applied the college logo
Nick will be attending Franklin College in the Fall {and playing Baseball}, so we did a quick search and found the Grizzlies logo. Then saved it to a flashdrive and made a trip to Staples to have it printed. After trimming around the edges, we applied the logo to the wood with Mod Podge Outdoor and gave it a couple good coats of Polyurethane.
Then it was time to make the Bean Bags for the game. If you don’t want to make your own, they have some great options on Amazon- in tons of colors!
Cornhole Toss Bean Bag Supplies
- 1/4 yard of each color Duck Canvas – it’s important to use heavy weight canvas, I found this at Jo-Ann’s Fabric Store
- Sewing Machine and thread
- Ruler and Rotary Cutter {you can also use scissors}
- Beans – each bag needs to be 1 pound which we found was 2 cups of dried pinto beans {we bought 8 pounds}
Directions:
- Gather your supplies
- Cut 7 inch squares of canvas – you need 4 bags in each color
- Sew around the edge using a 1/2 inch seam and leaving a hole open for turning. I sewed around twice to give it extra strength and back stitched where I stopped and started for more strength
- Turn the bag right side out and iron
So what do you think? Doug did an awesome job and I’m sure we will have lots of family fun with these!
For all the rules and more information on Cornhole Toss, visit Cornhole Game Players
Affiliate links used.
Just a note that 1/4 yd of each fabric is not enough. It will only give you 3 bags, not 4.
Thank you for letting us know Emily.
-Liz
My husband and I are so hooked on Cornhole game! About a week ago we were looking for something to watch on tv and found Cornhole Championship game on ESPN2. Enjoyed it and also learned a lot! Then last weekend we went to the campground where my daughter was camping and they got their Cornhole game out. First time we had played and LOVED IT. We bought ours at Academy Sports and now are going to paint it. Long story short – Thanks for all the info. I enjoy reading all the questions and answers.
Just for the 2X4’s and two 24X48’s almost $60. at home depot
add the customer’s desired art
what would you charge a customer
i’m in Canada we pay more here for everything!
Hi David,
I’ve seen custom Cornhole Games go for $100-120 USD.
for just a couple of days…let’s hope your son plays baseball as well and you construct wood projects!! You hit this one OUT OF THE PARK!! Outstanding project results!!
Just wanted to double check that I can use the polyurethane over Mod Podge? I covered ours with comic book pages. I used the Mod Podge to put the comics onto the boards and now need to cover the whole boards to keep them protected. How many coats of the polyurethane should I use and what brand? Any other suggestions?
You can definitely use poly over Mod Podge. I would use a water based poly- they don’t yellow over time. I would do at least 3 coats, sanding lightly in between, since it will be outside. It still won’t be waterproof, but it will definitely help. Any brand will do! Let us know if you have any other questions! Good luck!
How do you waterproof them?
As far as I know, there is no way to completely waterproof something (especially if it is covered with Mod Podge & paper). As long as you bring the boards in when not in use, they should be pretty durable!
Thanks!!!
Hi there! I already have the cornhole boards but I want to paint over the current ones we have to match my husband’s sports teams. I want to repaint over the paint that is on there and I was thinking of buying the vinyl logos and puting them on and painting over with polyurethane on the logo. Any thoughts if this will work?
Hi Emily, As long as you use a water based polyurethane it should be fine.
Would you be willing to make a set and sell it? My brother is an FC Alumni and I would like to get him a set for his birthday?
Hi Chris, I can certainly ask my husband if he could make a set. Is that Franklin Collage Alumni? Shipping is going to be the issue, I’m not sure where you are located. Email me directly at [email protected] and we can chat.
~Liz
Awesome! Just curious was the paper a certain thickness? Or type?
Hi Laura,
We had it logo printed at Staples, just on regular thickness paper. Thanks for stopping by!
These are amazing! What a perfect idea for hanging out outside during the summer! I’d love it if you’d share these over at my current link party so everyone can see the tutorial! http://practicallyfunctional.net/2012/06/the-fun-in-functional-link-party-2/
This would be fun for a party or even all summer long! Thanks for sharing!
This is a fantastic project! I love cornhole…such a fun game! Would you consider linking it up at my Pinworthy Projects Party? I hope to see you there!
Love this post. It makes it look so easy to make. With summer here, it’s a nice project for the outdoors – especially since everyone will be outside anyways! Thanks for sharing 🙂
We so excited you like it Jamie! Thanks for stopping by!
~Liz