DIY Cornhole Boards

The weather has been amazing lately and since it is getting warmer overall, I thought this would be the perfect time to share our DIY Cornhole Boards with you.  Cornhole (aka Bean Bag Toss) is a game that we love!  It is great to play in the summer in your backyard or when you are camping.  The cornhole boards are pretty easy to make as well.    

Before I show you how to make cornhole boards, I will take a minute to explain the rules. I know everyone has their own “rules” and that the rules differ for how far to set apart the boards. The way we play it is you set the boards 27 ft apart (or 9 BIG steps). You can play with 2 players or 4 players (2 on a team) with the players at each board. If you are playing teams, one player from each team would be at each board. Each player alternates throwing their bean bags trying to make it in the hole.

The player who scored the last point goes first each round. If your bean bag lands on the board it is worth 1 point. If it goes into the hole it is worth 3 points. When scoring, both team’s bean bags will cancel out each other’s, so you would only score the ones left over on the board and in the hole.  

We play to 21 points, however you have to get 21 exactly! If you go over, you go back to 11 points. A bean bag is not scored if it bounces onto the board or if it is hanging off the side of the board. If you lift the bottom of the board up and it stays on, it is scorable. You can try to hit your opponents bean bags off of the board as a strategy to keep their points down but this will happen naturally during the game anyway.

We have made a set of these boards for ourselves and a couple sets to give away as gifts. This will be a tutorial for building the boards only although we have 3 different sets featured for board design ideas.  

There are also many ideas on Pinterest for painting themes. We found the idea for the stars and stripes boards from this site.  

I will turn this post over to Mr. Wonderful to give you the instructions. Keep in mind that while these are not aco certified boards, they meet aco approved board specifications.

*There are links to products in this post that I use or are similar to products I use.  If you buy something from one of these links, I may make a small commission (with no additional cost to you) from the purchase.  I will not recommend anything that I would not buy myself.  Thank you for supporting my blog!

Materials you’ll need to make a cornhole boards set (two boards):

• 2 – 2’ x 4’ x ½” thick plywood panels
• 4 – 2” x 3“ x 8’ studs.  These will be cut to:
  • 4 – 48” long (sides)
  • 4 – 21” long (ends)
  • 4 – 12” long (legs)
• 4 – ⅜” x 4” carriage bolts with
• 4 – Washers
• 8 – Nuts
• Pocket hole screws WASHER HEAD – COARSE THREAD
  • 1” – 48
  • 1 ½” – 16
• Wood Glue
• Bean Bags – these come in many different colors
  • Red
  • Blue
  • Yellow
  • Black
  • Green
  • Orange
  • Grey

Tools needed:

• Power Drill
• ⅜” Drill bit
• Orbital Sander
• Something to cut the hole with
  • Jig Saw or 6″ Hole Saw
• Bar clamp
• Pocket hole jig – I like this Kreg Jig Kit (You could also use a drill bit with a countersink bit)
• 10-12″ Miter Saw (You could also use a hand saw)
• Compass

Some stores will cut lumber for you.  Take advantage of this service if you are at a store that offers it and get the 2” x 3”s cut to length.  If your store doesn’t cut wood, that’ll be the first order of business.  Cut those to length and then pull out your trusty Kreg pocket hole jig.  Once you use this thing, I think you’ll find many uses for it past this project.  I think it’s the best under $20 tool that you can buy.

Familiarize yourself with the Kreg jig instructions and use the jig along with a clamp to make two pocket holes in each end of the four 21” 2×3 ends. These holes will serve to connect the 48” 2×3 sides to make the two frames in just a bit.

Now make pocket holes along the side and end boards that you’ll use to attach the top.  On the 2×3 ends, I put one pocket hole in the center, and another two holes after measuring 4” in from the end.  Along the side boards I spaced out nine pocket holes making the end holes by measuring in 1 ½” from the end of the board and aligning the jig just inside that mark thereby leaving room for the 2×3 ends.  The remaining holes were evenly spaced along the length of the side.

With all of the holes drilled, you are ready for construction.  The 21” ends will be sandwiched between the 48” sides.  Be sure to keep all screw holes on the inside of the frame and pointing in the same direction.  It would be no fun to have to re drill pocket holes.  You will first apply some wood glue to the end of a 2×3 end board and then attach it to the side 2×3 with 1 ½” pocket screws.  Attach the other end to the same side piece in the same manner.  Now attach the other side with glue and screws to complete the 2×3 frame.

Decide which plywood surface you want to be the top and then lay that side down on your work surface.  Apply glue to the top of the 2×3 frame and turn it over and align it on top of the plywood. Once aligned, clamp the plywood and 2×3 frame together on one of the corners.  Attach the frame to the plywood using a pocket hole screw in the one corner.  Next do the same on the opposite corner being sure that everything is square.  Continue on with each corner and then along the length of the 2x3s clamping each time to insure no movement.  Do the same for the other frame and plywood panel.

Now it’s time to cut the hole.  I tell people that make these to use a jig saw rather than a hole saw as a jig saw is easier to come across in my opinion.  If you have access to a 6” hole saw or want to buy one however, that is a perfectly good option here.  Measure down 9” from the top end of the board and 12” in from each side (center of the board left to right).  From that point use a compass to draw a 6” diameter circle.  Drill a hole big enough to get your jigsaw blade through, and saw the circumference of your circle to remove the wood to create the hole that will hopefully ‘bag’ you many points.  Do the same on the other board and then we’ll move to completing these boards with the final steps in creating and attaching the legs.

Now turning to the 12” 2x3s.   At one end on the wide (2 ½”) surface, mark a center point that is 1 ¼” from the end and each side.  Use your compass and make an arc that you can follow with the jigsaw to round off one end of each of the four legs.  Drill a ⅜” hole on the center mark used for the arc.  

With your cornhole boards face down, place a leg on the inside, top edge of the frame with the round end at the top.  Clamp the leg to the side and use the ⅜” hole as a guide and drill from inside through the side of the frame.  Insert a carriage bolt from the outside through the frame and leg.  Hammer the carriage bolt in to seat the bolt.

Nearly done.  You have 2 options here, and I’ll explain both.  Cornhole boards typically use 2×4 studs rather than 2×3 like we are using.  I like using the 2x3s as they provide a very sturdy product while making the boards less bulky and heavy than an official cornhole set.  This could change the angle of your boards by a little bit, but honestly this doesn’t bother me in the least.  I have never set these on a grassy surface that didn’t alter the angle a little bit anyway.  Alternatively you could subtract an inch in the following step to account for this.  

So, placing your board face up on your work surface near the edge, and prop the top of the board up so the top is 12” high.  This is done so we can figure the length of the legs.  Being next to the edge of your work surface allows you to fully opening one leg so that it can extend below the work surface.  Using the work surface as a guide, mark a line on the back of the leg.  Remove and then cut the leg at this line.

Once cut, slide the leg back onto the bolt.  Now place a washer on the inside of the bolt and then thread a nut onto the bolt.  Tighten the bolt to the point that you can still move the leg with a little bit of resistance.  This will help keep the legs from flopping around later.  Put a second nut on the bolt and snug it up to the first one.  This will keep the first nut in place so it doesn’t loosen over time.  These may need to be snugged up after some use.  Do the same to the remaining leg.  Sit back and relax as you have now completed building your cornhole boards.

Here are a couple more things to consider as you bask in the glow.  First, you’ll need some bags to throw.  After checking on prices for poly fill and material we have found that they are less expensive to simply buy instead of making them.  These are the ones we recommend.  They are made very well and we have not had any problem with them breaking open.  They come in all different colors (see links above).

We have seen a multitude of paint jobs out there to finish the boards.  Some of the paint jobs we have used we have borrowed and others are completely original.  Even if you don’t want to paint them I would still suggest to put a finish on your boards somehow.  You could put on a simple coat of Polycrylic.

There are some other options you can add to the boards like a string to measure the distance between the boards that coils up on the bottom of one.  Or you can add a series of holes on the back end of one, or both boards, to fit a couple of golf tees into.  This makes an easy way to keep track of the score.  A small string of battery powered LEDs under the hole to light it up so you can play further into the night.  In the future, I will be making a plexiglass rim around the hole to be lit by LEDs.  I promise to add that tutorial when I complete that upgrade.  In the meantime, I hope you get as much fun family time playing this game as we have gotten out of ours.