Wing spar inspired cornhole board project

[WNC_Ed]

The wife volunteered me to make cornhole boards for a High School Booster Club fundraiser auction this weekend.
While I wasn't excited about it, I figured I would try to do something different. After looking at hundreds of cornhole board pictures on the web, and for the most part if you have seen one you have seen them all. With only a week to get it done, I didn't think I had time for inlays or fancy wood looks that would require glue drying time.
What I came up with is the "wing spar" sides.
I haven't seen them anywhere on the web and makes them lighter to carry.
If I had more time it would be a really cool setup for under board lighting.
Anyway, thought I would share the file in case anyone wants to make a set.
Saved it as VCarve file to make it widely usable - you don't need Aspire for this one.
I tweaked the file a little after cutting so this should actually be better than the ones pictured. But I didn't test the tweaks...so look it over before you cut it.
The legs are cut to final height after assembly.
Every set I saw on the web had a carriage bolt through the side of it. This uses the little carriage bolt attachments that mount in the inside corner. I used four screws to attach them so they are removable if for some reason they need to be. No ugly bolts sticking out of the side.
After making one or two you could probably cut the legs to length on the CNC and save the step of fitting them.
One other note on the carriage bolt holder. The head pocket is slightly undersized so the bolt is held tight and less likely to turn. That's probably a bit over thought so you may want to enlarge it a little before cutting.
The cutouts use tabs - after cutting I used a flush cut bit on the router table to remove the tabs and followed that with a 1/4" roundover inside and out.
I am not bothering including the top board file since it is pretty straight forward and unless you are a University of Tennessee fan or a Tuscola Mountaineer (the high school these were made for) you probably won't use the "T".
Everything was cut from 3/4" finish grade plywood.
Finish is rolled on Rust-oleum industrial paint.
Sides are pocket hole attached together and to the top board with a lil Tight Bond III for good measure.
If you make a set please share pictures here - would love to see them.
Wonder how much these will go for at the auction?

[Mike-S]

Those are really nice looking.

[Savannahdan]

I agree and I like the design. Thank you for sharing.

[mtylerfl]

Very nice! Sharp-looking paint job, too!

[WNC_Ed]

Mike, Dan, & Michael thank you for the positive feedback!

Post auction update:
I went into the auction worried that no one was going to bid and I was fully prepared to buy the boards myself if no one was interested.
The auction items were all displayed on a line of tables which everyone walked past as they entered the room.
Funny observation on human nature - The boards being freshly painted and still clean and shiny looked like the paint was still wet. There was somewhere over 300 people in attendance and I am almost positive every single one of them touched the paint to see if it was wet
I was very pleasantly surprised when the boards came up, the bidding zoomed up to $200 almost immediately with bids from all over the room. The gavel fell at $275 which was the highest paid for any single auction item.

On a side note, I also came home with a commision to build a set of Georgia Bulldog boards.

I wasn't excited about the project in the beginning but in the end I am happy I was volunteered. (Please don't tell my wife I said that)

[Savannahdan]

Awesome news.

[mtylerfl]

I’m sure the Booster Club is very excited and pleased with the $275 income from your project donation!

[scottp55]

Excellent effort and results Ed!!
Gotta give you the warm fuzzies with the price....certainly got your name out there:)
Well Done!
scott

[TReischl]

Donchya love it when a plan comes together?

[dwilli9013]

Congrats on that one. Plus an extra commision to boot!! Question did you make the bags too? Thanks for sharing.

[WNC_Ed]

We grabbed the bags from Amazon. We went with the "Official Cornhole Association" bags to give the "air of quality" to the set. $25-ish


For the record I really don't have time for a commission but I was asked so nicely and the lady seemed to truly want a set and flattery will get ya anywhere so how could I say no.

[ezurick]

Well done and at least the next one will be GA Bulldogs.... lol.

[jay pieper]

I enjoyed seeing your spin on the corn hole boards and am thinking this is a project
that I need to do. Have been asked if I would considered making them, but could
not come up with a good plan. Thank You for solving that problem for me. Your design
is great and execution is fantastic.

[carbidetooth]

Thanks for sharing your idea, Ed.

Recently had family visiting from Michigan and got on the subject of Cornhole. I had no idea it was so big in popularity. I immediately began to conjure ideas when, after some brief browsing and query of the kids as to state-of-the-art Cornhole boards. I was surprised to find out that the actual construction was still kinda crude. Mostly visual stuff. Then I thought, "carbon fiber, high tech materials, CNC cut, lighting, and whatever other coolness I could bring to the game. I don't know if anyone is really looking for more than what exists, but it got creative juices flowing.

Ed, I think I understand the carriage bolt mount, but don't understand the angled cuts. As I wrote that, it occurred to me that they accommodate the oval cutout in side, correct? The juices are flowing once again! I think the world needs a strong, lightweight, less bulky, added coolness cornhole board!

[WNC_Ed]

The legs when folded down go past perpendicular to the board surface in this case I was right at a 10 degree cut so that the leg sits flush to the ground which adds sturdiness.

Ideally the back top of the board should be 12" off the ground with the front of the board at 4"-ish off the ground. I say "-ish" because the majority of the boards you see are 2x4 sides with 3/4" tops which would yield a board 4.25" off the ground (which is what these are). My thought is for recreational use these are fine since any specification variance is the same for both teams.

You can see in the picture the angle of the feet.
(picture "borrowed" from this website https://rogueengineer.com/diy-cornhole-board-plans/)

If/when I do the next one I was thinking of using 1x4 boards for the sides, or more accurately 1x12 cut on the CNC with the same file.
Finishing the edge of the rounded over plywood is slow & painful to do even a half decent job. Thinking the solid wood will be far easier to finish. Not sure how stable the solid wood would be as far as warping and twisting over time. But there again, any warps and twists would be the same for both teams.

Looking forward to pictures of "Coolness injected" Cornboards!