Bad name, great game

BY GINA DAUGHERTY | CIN

A cornhole

Going native
1. Eat like a native
2. Drink like a native
3. Endless love
4. Bad name, great game
5. Say what?

Last summer, Oakley resident Rob Slater decided to build his very own cornhole set.

Slater is a smart man. He went to the College of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, and he's hammered a few nails in his time. He had pretty good instructions. He knew the diameter of the hole should be 6 inches.

Except he confused diameter with radius and accidentally built the world's easiest cornhole game -- with a 12-inch hole.

"You'd think after 14 years of engineering school I wouldn't make that kind of mistake," says Slater. "I had to make four trips to The Home Depot. By the time I got materials twice and factored in all my trips with gas and mileage, I would have done well to just buy one."

Taking into account Slater's first-attempt mistakes, we provide this guide on how to build your own cornhole game. And hey, if you fail miserably or get sick of running back forth to the hardware store, you can buy a set for about $100.

Erlanger resident Michael Brungs posted cornhole blueprints on his Web site two months ago for some friends of his. Before he knew it, Google found the page, and at last count, about 14,000 cornhole fans have downloaded his how-to guide. His site is members.tripod.com/michaelbrungs/cornhole.htm

You will need:

• two 24- by 48-inch sheets of plywood
• four 8-foot two-by-fours
• eight 4-inch carriage bolts, plus washers and wingnuts
• 16 10d nails (10-penny, 3-inch)
• 28 drywall screws
• 18 cups of whole-kernel feed corn
• 16 7- by 7-inch cloth squares for cornbags
• one quart can of any color high-gloss paint
• one person who can sew the bags
• Tools: Circular saw, jigsaw, drill with various bits and a Phillips-head adapter, hammer, paintbrush, sewing machine.

1. On each of the sheets of plywood, measure 6 inches down from the top and 12 inches in from the side and make a pencil mark. This marks the center of a 6-inch diameter hole to cut out of the plywood. Use a compass to draw a circle on the plywood and then use a jigsaw to cut out the circle. (Many have asked whether this hole should actually be inset 9 inches from the top instead of 6 inches. The answer seems to vary by region of the country. Take your pick, just make sure that the hole is inset the same distance on both boards.)

2. Cut two of the three two-by-fours into 4-foot lengths. Cut another one of the two-by-fours into four 21-inch lengths. This will give you eight pieces of two-by-four: four 48-inch pieces and four 21-inch pieces.

3. Use those pieces to build two 48- by 24-inch rectangles using two 10-penny nails at each corner.

4. Attach one sheet of plywood to each two-by-four frame using drywall screws. Brungs used four across the top and four across the bottom, evenly spaced. Down each side, he put a screw about every 12 inches. Counter-sink the screws slightly so that the bags will not snag.

5. Now it's time for the detachable legs. From the remaining two-by-four, cut four pieces, each 12 inches in length. The critical measurement is the resulting height of the high side of the platform. Brungs used a box to lift the high side to the correct height and then held the leg up to the side, scribed a cut angle and then cut the leg.

6. The legs will be attached to the main board using 4-inch carriage bolts. Again, Brungs used the box to lift the high side to the correct height and then drilled though the leg and the side of the platform. Widening the holes in the legs will make putting the legs on a bit easier.

7. Fasten the legs to the platform using pairs of carriage bolts, washers and wingnuts. Detachable legs make for easier storage.

8. Brungs used two coats of paint. Using the high-gloss paint resulted in a surface that "slides" but is not so slippery that it allows the bags to slide back down the platform.

9. To assemble the bags, take two of the 7- by 7-inch fabric squares and sew a 1/4-inch seam on three sides. Fill each bag with 2 1/4 cups of corn. Sew the last open side of the bag. Double stitch each bag on all four sides, because the bags do take a beating.