When choosing to build your own cornhole board one of the first steps you have to take is to choose the type of wood that you are going to use for your project. This step doesn’t have to be as confusing as you might think, but there are a few key considerations you want to think about before making a purchase. Here’s what you need to know about what type of wood to use.
What thickness of plywood?
Most people choose either 1/2″ inch thick plywood or 3/4″ thick plywood. And some even go in between at 5/8″.
The advantage of going with 1/2″ inch thick plywood is that your board will remain lighter. If portability is a big issue for you then because you’ll be using your board at tailgate and parties then you might want to consider going with 1/2″ thick boards.
The drawback going with these boards is that some people feel that they aren’t as sturdy as they’d like. To ensure the sturdiness you can place a supporting bar across the middle of the cornhole board.
So the advantage with a 3/4″ thick plywood is that you’re going to have a sturdy board.
Some people even add a supporting bar on their 3/4″ thick plywood creating an ultra-sturdy set-up although that might be overkill. If you want to bring your cornhole board around everywhere then I would suggest going with a 1/2″ board.
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What type of plywood for a cornhole board?
The standard cornhole board dimensions are 2′ by 4′.
You’ll want to buy two sheets of 2’x4′ plywood or go with a single 4′ by 4′ that you can cut in half. I’d personally go with the pre-cut sheets of 2′ by 4′ just to make your life easier. If you are purchasing larger sheets at a hardware or lumber store, you can inquire with the store and they might be able to cut the boards down for you.
You can choose from a variety of plywoods but birch plywood is usually the most common type of wood chosen for cornhole boards.
Birch plywood
Birch plywood is not very expensive but it’s still pretty durable and it seems to be the most common type of material used for the playing surface of cornhole boards. Some people say that birch doesn’t take stain well but I’ve seen plenty of birch plywood cornhole boards with great staining.
There are different types of birch plywood you can use (e.g., Baltic Birch plywood). You can get buy with reasonably priced birch plywood you find at your local Home Depot or Lowes but some like to spend a little extra and go with cabinet grade birchwood.
If you go with a lower grade wood, the key is to inspect the plywood and try to find a sheet of plywood with minimal burls, knots and streaks. If the plywood is filled with these blemishes they could affect the gameplay so you’ll be forced to do more work to fill them in with wood putty and sand them down smoothly.
Also, you can look at the grading. For example, there is A-C plywood and B-C plywood. Structurally, these will be the same but the A-C plywood will look better because it will have fewer defects on its good side. Of course, A-C will also be more expensive.
Maple
Maple is a harder wood but still relatively light and many people choose to go with maple as their wood of choice for their cornhole boards. But maple can be expensive so if you’re looking to cut costs, it might be better to go with another type of plywood like birch plywood.
If you go with maple 2x4s for the frame, they can be difficult to stain to consider that .
Oak
Oak is some of the nicest looking grain but it will also likely be more expensive. Another potential issue with Oak is that the grain is so busy that it can sometimes detract from your logos.
Pine
Some people use pine for the plywood but a lot of people use pine for the frame of the cornhole board.
Pre-sanded
Some suggest to buy your plywood and two by fours pre-sanded since it makes your job easier. Obviously, this will be more expensive but many feel like it’s worth the amount of time saved on the project. It’s common for only one side of the plywood to be sanded which should be all you need since one side underneath.
What kind of wood for the frame?
You can use different types of wood for the frame. Most people go with 2X4s for the frame but others might use 1x4s or 1x3s depending on how light they are trying to make the board.
You want to think about how the wood you’ll be using will hold a stain and/or paint, too.
Believe it or not some people even make their frames out of the plywood, too. With this approach you need to be mindful of how the plywood could degrade over time so putting some sort of weatherproof coat over it will be needed.
Final word
As you can see there are a lot of different options that you can choose from. The consensus for making your life easy is to just go with birch plywood that’s either 1/2″ thick or 3/4″ thick depending on how heavy and sturdy you want your board to be.