Johnny's Tavern Cornhole Boards

by M. Consugar
(Baltimore, MD)

Johnny's Tavern Cornhole Boards

I found your web site doing a Google search. I was looking for instructions to build a Cornhole game for my brother's bar in Pennsylvania. Your dimensions seemed the easiest to follow out of all that I had found, and your materials list was extra helpful. The specifications drawing allowed me to see the basic dimensions, I changed the materials slightly from what you had listed to use some scrap lumber that I had in the garage.

For the deck, I purchased 2'x4' pre-cut MDF boards because of their stability (but boy, are they heavy!). Using your drawings, I was easily able to center the hole, but had a tough time drawing a 6" diameter circle. I finally used a paint can for the circle, as that was near the dimesion that I needed.

For the sides, I used 1"x3" pine that I had as scrap. I made the legs the same way you suggested (easy!), out of the same boards, and attached them with machine bolts and wing nuts so they can be removed for storage. It came together easily, and then it was time to paint. I used some of the pictures on your site as a guide, and painted the deck and sides in the colors of the interior of the tavern. I then added the tavern's logo to the center of the deck (a custom decal purchased on-line).

As a way to protect the decal and to make the game slightly more challenging, I put five coats of varnish on the decking, rubbing it down with steel wool in-between coats to make it smooth. I then purchased two sets of bags from your site to complete the game.

I tested it this weekend, and it makes for a challenging game. You have to toss the bag just right, or it goes sliding right off the varnished deck and off the board. Your site's instructions were a great help to completing this project.