Wednesday, September 10, 2014

DIY Lobster Corn Hole

I wanted a project of my own. A building project that I could prove all the skills I've learned in the last year working on this house.

I had also been itching for a corn hole set. So when we decided to have one for the wedding reception, I felt up for the challenge. A project where I would build, paint and design from start to finish.

First I scoured the internet for "DIY Corn hole". I got the regulation dimensions and size. Visited Home Depot (like we do every other day) & Hobby Lobby and purchased the necessary materials...

Materials:
1. Two Sheets of 1/2" plywood at 2' x 4' (sold precut)
2. 8 2'x4's
3. 1 3/8 Carriage Bolts, washers & nuts (4)
4. White Exterior Paint
5. 3 1/2" Exterior screws
6. Clear Spray Paint
7. Red & Blue fabric and coordinating thread
8. 3 bags of Corn kernels

Tools Used: 
1. Chop Saw
2. Nail Gun
3. Router
4. Sanding Block
5. Jigsaw
6. Impact Driver & Drill
7. Sewing Machine

Here are the steps that I took to make my own Lobster Corn Hole Board and Bags for our wedding!



1. Cut all 2x4s to length using the chop saw. Four at 48"for the frame, four at 21" for the frame and four at 11 1/2" for the legs.



2. Line up all the edges with the plywood on top to make the frame. I then pre-drilled the corners and used the impact driver to screw the corners.  I clamped the frame and plywood down to make an even box. Then I used the nail gun to fasten the two parts together.




3. Once the frame was complete I moved on to the legs. I rounded them off using a roll of tape (use anything round) and used the band saw to cut and the sander to finish off the rounded edges. You could use a jig saw for this and a sanding block, but if I'm working in Andrew's shop, why not use the fancy tools?!

Next up for the legs was drilling the hole for the carriage bolt and lining it all up with the board. Putting in the carriage bolts & voila! 





4. This next part, cutting the hole in the top, was the most stressful part of it all. Andrew gave me guidance but said I had to do it. Luckily he set me up with the right gear and gave me some things to practice on. 

First I measured out 9" from the top of the board and centered it at 12" on either side and marked the spot. Then I measured out 3 inches with my compass tool and drew the circle from my centered mark.  

Then came the hard part, using the jig saw. I cut the opening closer to the center to allow for error, then sanded it down to the line. I used the router to round off all the sharp edges of the board and hole. 





5. The next step I was well versed with…PAINTING. First I filled all the nail holes, primed the boards, and then painted them with an exterior white paint from Home Depot. We don't use Behr paint typically because I don't like the quality, but for the boards, it seemed ok! 



6. I marked out the borders with blue tape using my square and rulers. We decided on one chunky navy border and one pin stripe. I used "Naval" paint by Sherwin Williams because we already had it from the exterior of our house. 





7. Next step was to take a jpeg image of a lobster to Staples and get it blown up. I blew it up to a 12" x 24", cut out all the pieces and traced the image on the board. Then I free handed it with a fire engine red Rustoleum paint. 


8. Final step was to spray the boards with a clear coat to protect it from dirt and bird poop. 


I also sewed up some regulation 6"x6" corn hole bags and filled them with popcorn kernels. I find these to be less dusty and dirty than the corn kernels. 


I can now proudly say I built our own corn hole set. These should be a hit at our clambake wedding reception! 


















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