For those of you who don’t know about cornhole yet, the designer of this customized set explains the game: “Cornhole is a fun lawn game, similar to horseshoes, only portable and safer for kids. In essence, you toss beanbags at a target some 30 feet away. Each target is roughly 2 by 4 feet with a 6"-diameter hole near the top end, which is slightly elevated by short legs. Players toss four bags per round. A bag on the target scores one point; a bag through the hole scores three.”
At his family’s request, the designer made this set, based on the standard design–with upgrades, of course (master woodworkers don’t build standard versions of anything). The result is a complete game set that’s not only better looking than any you’re likely to find, it’s also more portable.
- 1.Cut the tops and sides.
Cut the full 5 × 5-foot plywood panel in half along the direction of the grain. From each half, rip three pieces at 17⁄8" wide along the direction of the grain; these will become the sides and ends–leave them long for now. Finally, cut the two tops to width and length, following the cutting list. Save the scrap for use as test pieces later.
- 2. Cut the holes in the tops.
Mark a centerpoint for a target hole in each top, 9" from one short end and centered side to side; see the plan drawing Set a compass to 3" and draw a 6"-diameter circle around the centerpoint. Drill a 3⁄8" starter hole inside the circle, then carefully cut the hole with the jigsaw. Smooth the cut edge of the hole with 80-grit paper.
- 3. Rabbet the sides and ends.
The top outside edge of the side and end pieces get a 1⁄8" × 1⁄8" rabbet; see Detail A drawing. The rabbet makes an otherwise difficult joint much more forgiving of slight imperfections, and it accents the beautiful laminations on the edges of the Baltic birch plywood tops.
Using a router and 1⁄8" rabbeting bit, set the depth for 1⁄8" and run some test cuts. Then rabbet one square corner from the top outside edge of each side and end piece.
- 4. Miter the sides and ends.
Set your miter saw to 45 degrees on the right. With the workpiece flat against the saw’s back fence (good side out, rabbet up), cut the right-side miters of all the side pieces. Measuring from the long point, mark the length of each side piece and add 1⁄16". Reset the miter saw to the left and cut the side pieces to length. Repeat the process to miter and trim the end pieces to length. Save the scrap for test pieces.
- 5. Lay out the biscuit centers.
Biscuits are used for assembling the sides, ends, and top, affording a clean look overall and considerable lateral strength for the sides, which ultimately must carry the weight of each target (about 22 pounds) during transport.
You’ll mark the biscuit centers on the top (rabbeted) edge of the side and end pieces, measuring from the long point of the miter. On the side pieces, mark the following distances: 2", 81⁄4", 141⁄2", and 203⁄4", first from one end and then from the other. On the end piece, mark the following distances: 2", 7", and 12", first from one end and then the other.
- 6.Cut the biscuit slots in the side and end pieces.
Study the top edge of a side piece: there should be roughly 1⁄2" left, as you removed 1⁄8" with the rabbet. Set the biscuit joiner to cut for a #10 biscuit. The maximum depth should be about 7⁄16".
Set the fence on the biscuit joiner so that the slot cut is centered in the material that remains in the top edge of the side piece; see detail A drawing, below. Practice on a scrap piece and adjust the fence until you get it just right. Clamp one piece at a time, facedown on a work surface, slightly overhanging the edge. Center the biscuit joiner on the marks you made in step 5, and cut each slot.
- 7. Cut the biscuit slots in the back of the top pieces.
These cuts require folding back or removing (on older models) the fence on the biscuit joiner. The slots will be cut vertically with the biscuit joiner facedown, so the fence would be in the way. You will index the joiner by clamping an edge or side piece onto the back of the top.
The marks made in step 5 will show you where to cut the mating slots. The trick is to know how far from the edge to clamp the piece: Using a reserved scrap top piece, try clamping one of the reserved scrap side pieces parallel to the edge but inset 3⁄4" from the edge. Cut a test slot on a piece of scrap. Try it out with a biscuit and an end or side piece. The idea is to have the plane of the front edge of the side or end in line with the side or end of the top. To achieve this you may have to move the clamped piece in or out slightly. Once you know the exact distance, you can replicate this on the bottom of the actual top pieces.
Clamp the pieces so they lie flat, with the rabbet facing up and the edge with the marks facing out. Be sure to align the side or end piece with the edges of the top piece before you clamp it into place. Use each side and end piece in turn and mark it and its location to ensure proper alignment during assembly later. Cut the biscuits.
- 8. Fine-tune the miters.
Using dry biscuits (no glue yet), test-fit each side and end piece, and trim the miters as needed until they fit snugly together. Leave the sides and ends in place.
- 9. Glue the sides and ends to the tops.
Remove one side and its biscuits. Apply enough glue to the sides of the slots in the back of the top so that, when you push the biscuit in, a little glue escapes from each end, but not a lot. Be sure to center the biscuits and push them in, leaving half (3⁄8") sticking up out of the plywood.
Apply glue to the slots in the side and a modest bead all along the top of the side. Return the side to its proper place, mating glued slots to glued-in biscuits, and clamp the pieces together. The clamps are necessary for only about 30 minutes. Work around the sides and ends of the tops in this fashion, gluing the miters as you go.
- 10. Prepare the tapered corner blocks.
Using the miter saw, cut two 8" pieces from the 2 × 4 stock. Mark a square line around the blocks 13⁄4" from each end. On the end grain, mark a rectangle that is 1⁄4" smaller than the sides; see Detail B drawing. Using the belt sander with a 50-grit belt, taper all four sides of each end of both blocks. Finally, cut the corner blocks to length at 31⁄2", yielding four blocks with one square end and one tapered end.
- 11. Make the legs.
Using the miter saw, cut two 13" pieces from the 2 × 4 stock; each of these will become two legs. The legs taper from 2" at one end to 11⁄4" at the other; see detail B drawing.
Mark each end of each piece at 11⁄4" in from the side, measuring from opposing sides at each end. Set the compass to 1". Center the compass in a corner of a leg piece, and mark a 2"-diameter semicircle that touches the end and one adjacent side of the stock, as shown in detail B drawing. Draw a straight line from the edge of the semicircle to the 11⁄4" marking at the opposing end of the piece. Repeat to mark the other leg to be cut from the board, and mark the other board in the same way.
Carefully cut out the legs with the jigsaw, and then use the belt sander to smooth your cuts. Mark the center of the semicircle on the opposite face of each leg, to match the first centerpoint. Using a 1⁄4" bit, drill halfway through the leg at this mark. Turn the leg over and complete the hole, starting from the other mark. They should meet in the center and allow you to drill all the way through.
- 12. Round over all the edges.
Using the router and a 1⁄8" roundover bit, round over the exposed edges on the target units, plus the edges of the corner blocks and legs; see detail C drawing, below right. Leave the vertical (mitered) corners between the sides and ends square so that the plywood laminations don’t show.
- 13. Attach the corner blocks.
The corner blocks are installed in the inside corners at the upper end of each target, with their square ends flush against the side and end pieces, as shown in the section drawing. Drill pilot holes, and install each block with glue and two 2" drywall screws driven through the block and into the plywood sides. Each target gets two corner blocks.
- 14. Temporarily mount the legs.
With the target units upside down on a work surface, position a leg against a side piece, aligned with the tapered edge of a corner block. Place a nickel under the leg’s semicircular end, to hold it 1⁄8" off the top piece, which will allow it to pivot without binding. Clamp the leg in place and drill a 1⁄4" hole through the leg and the plywood side. Use a scrap block on the inner face of the side to minimize tearout. Mark this leg and its mated side to indicate that they are matched.
Remove the nickel, and partially insert a carriage bolt through the hole from the outside, placing an oversized washer between the side and the leg; don’t drive the bolt home just yet. Repeat these steps for the other legs on each target unit.
- 15. Cut the legs to length.
Pivot each leg up until it stops on the corner block in the fully open position. On the inside of the leg, measuring from the back of the top, make a mark at 113⁄8". Rest one end of the 6-foot straightedge on the front end piece and move the other end up or down until it intersects the mark on the leg. Draw the line described by the straightedge on the inside of the leg. Slide the leg off the bolt, match this angle on the miter saw, and cut the leg. Do the same for the other legs.
- 16. Connect the legs.
Connecting the legs is a nice touch but isn’t absolutely necessary. The advantage is that the two legs move as one. This simplifies setting up and packing up the targets.
Slide the legs back onto their respective bolts on one target unit, in the proper orientation. The oversized washers should be between the legs and the sides. Pivot the legs into their fully open position again. Make a mark on the insides of the legs, 10" above the back of the top. Center this mark across the width of each leg. Push the legs tight against the sides. Measure the distance between the legs near the bolts. Write this distance down. Now slip the legs off again.
Using the 3⁄4" spade bit, drill a hole in each leg at the mark you just made. Drill slowly and keep checking the depth of the hole, stopping at 1". Add 2" to the measurement you wrote down. Cut the 3⁄4" dowel to this length. Dry-fit the dowel into both legs and return the legs to their bolts. The whole leg unit must be able to pivot up and (especially) down between the sides. Trim the dowel a little if the leg unit is too wide. Remove the leg unit one last time. Glue the dowel in place.
Clamp the leg unit together on a flat surface. Predrill with a 3⁄32" bit through the 11⁄2" side of the leg, through the side of the dowel, and back into the leg on the other side of the 3⁄4" hole. Drive a 11⁄4" drywall screw into the predrilled hole.
Repeat the process to join the legs for the other target unit.
- 17. Connect the two target units.
The corner blocks should allow the two units to index into each other, back to back. If they don’t, modify the blocks with the belt sander as needed. Mount the draw hasps–centered on the ends–to hold the units together tightly. Attach the longer portion of the draw hasp on the end with the legs, so it won’t hit the ground during play.
- 18. Bore the holes for the webbing handles.
With the hasps holding the units together, choose one side to locate the holes for the webbing handles. Each target unit gets one handle. You will be drilling four holes, two on each target unit, about 41⁄2" apart, and as a pair centered on each end. Drill pilot holes with the 3⁄32" bit. Open the units up and drill the holes with a 3⁄8" bit, drilling in turn from each side and meeting in the center to prevent tearout. Finally, countersink both sides of each hole with the 1⁄2" bit.
- 19. Make blocks for the landscape staples.
To prevent the targets from migrating backward during play, each unit gets two landscaping staples located at the inside front end. The staples are secured with two small mounting blocks in each target unit; see detail D drawing, at right.
Cut the four mounting blocks to size at 11⁄2" × 4" from scrap plywood. Measure the distance between the sides of a landscape staple, and mark this on the backs of the blocks. Set your circular saw depth to match the thickness of the staples. Score the back of each block so the kerfs will capture the staple. Using wire cutters, cut each staple to 31⁄2" in length.
- 20. Sand and finish the targets.
Remove the draw hasps and sand all the wood surfaces with 150-grit paper. If desired, paint a border on the top of each target, as shown in the unit here. Finish the pieces with a durable, exterior-rated clearcoat. The unit here was painted and then finished with three coats of spar urethane.
- 21. Assemble the target.
After the finish has cured, remount the leg units. Remember to place a large washer between each leg and the adjacent side. Drive the carriage bolts home with a hammer, and secure them with the small washers and lock nuts. Using 1" drywall screws, mount the blocks and landscape staples to the inside front end, no more than about 21⁄2" from each corner.
Cut the webbing in half, and thread it through the holes. Tie knots on the inside, leaving adequate slack to accommodate your hand. Remount the draw hasps.
Make your own beanbags, or order a set online, and start perfecting your game!
