I look at it as 1300 easy little steps.

Happy to help!

Thanks so much Steve! Yeah, there are DEFINITELY wrong ways to make boards but there’s no 1 “right” way. I will steal great ideas from you and that is not a threat. It’s a promise.

Thank you for following along! We’re having a blast sharing, and really enjoying continuing the conversations started by the videos over on our new Facebook group. If you haven’t found it yet, click the Facebook link at the bottom of any page on our website www.cornholecollective.com

Thanks Yolanda! Cornhole games and camping go hand in hand! You can also make them 3’ long instead of 4’ so they’re a lot easier to fit behind seats in a camper.

Thanks so much Jerry!

I’m sure it’ll be great!

Thanks Kimberly! Appreciate the view and comment!

Thanks Paul! Thanks for watching! If you’re not in our Cornhole Collective Facebook group, it’s a great way to shorten the learning curve. I’m inspired every day by the talent in our group.

So glad to hear it! Check out our new Facebook group to continue the conversations started by our videos to get your ready for that fun transition. I believe you’ll find the move to pain/stain very rewarding!! You can also always dip your toe by getting stencils from another builder before making the full investment.

painT (which can also be a pain)

Thanks Alex!

Thanks for watching Jason!

@@cornholecollective7116 Sure thing! I have a cricut and was applying the vinyl and calling it a day. These look so much better.

Thanks a lot Ronnie!

Thanks a lot!

Sean Zander thanks!

Thanks, always something I review with my client first and present all options. I suppose it depends on the orientation of the boards, right? I hate to think about it but many of my cornhole sets wind up mounted on walls lol. Hopefully in the right orientation.

Thanks!!

Haha, thanks Jason! Welcome to the Collective! Usually I wrap the design around the edge but it is time consuming because edges don’t stain very well and my vinyl rolls are 24” wide so it’s a tape and cut job for the edges. Lately, I’ve been staining the designs just on the surface BEFORE rounding over the edge. The router roundover cuts a clean crisp edge in the stain for a very sharp look.

If you’re staining or painting the frames, i definitely recommend rounding over after you paint/stain. Cuts a nice clean edge. Suggest a color that’s contrasts a lot with the top deck. Really, your choice. Good luck!

Thank you so much! I have a lot of fun doing it. Making stencils is a great resource and is pretty affordable, if you plan on doing a few sets. We have our recommended setup on our supplies list (www.cornholecollective.com/supplies) with a plotter, Tools, vinyl and transfer tape all listed there. I estimated that for the average cost of 13 sets of stencils you can get all the equipment and supplies you need to make 18 sets… so the break even point is quite fast, and the time and headache saved is worth it even faster. We love uscutter brand machines because they’re so common so getting help when I need it is much simpler than using some random less common machine and software. Good luck and congrats!!

Thanks so much Joseph, I don’t typically make the same design twice and don’t save my cut files. Sorry.

Cornhole Collective So do you cut your vinyl. Weed it. Apply it. Stain it. Then remove the vinyl and cut a complete different vinyl and apply it over your first stain then apply the second stain?

@@josephcappello9487 I l

Thanks Emron! ALL i use is water based poly. Make sure your stain off-gasses and is completely dry for 1 day plus to prevent bubbles from forming under the veneer of your plywood. Gel stains are an absolutely game changer if you have a vinyl stencil cutter. However, be careful like I said not to apply poly too early or your stains will smear and ruin the design or bubbles can form under the plywood and that’s a tricky fix. Lmk if you have more questions. -Scott

Btw, yes, you can paint over stain. Make sure it’s dry and you may want to test it in small areas to make sure the tape isn’t going to pull up wood fibers where the stain was.

@@cornholecollective7116 That was a super quick response, thank you so much for that quick answer. So to clarify, I gathered from your video and your answer I am OK to apply water based poly over a gel stain? I'm only trying to clarify because of what the paint rep at my local Home Depot store told me has me very confused. He told me that gel stains are oil based and because of that I could not or should not use a water based poly. But it seems that you're doing exactly that and without issue. If you could please clarify this for me and put my nervous inexperience at ease. If I'm understanding you correctly I can use the gel stain, and paint my boarders and use water based poly as long as I give the stain plenty of time to dry? Again, you are awesome, your video's are awesome and I thank you.

100% you’ll be good to go. I use Parks ProFinisher clear coat from Home Depot for years. 3-4 heavy-ish coats with foam brush letting each coat dry to the touch. Let that sit for many hours or a day. Then wet-sand it. Spray bottle water and 320 grit paper. Wipe all the slime and dust thoroughly. Final coat or two. Beautiful smooth and perfect slide.

Thanks! Multiple stains is my favorite method of all. Have a couple videos on the “poly over” method using several shades of stain. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work with dyed staines but it works great with brown shades.

Thanks! This tree design was the often misunderstood “polyover” technique. This only works in shades of the same color. Brown has the most stain stares of course. Your vinyl cut partitions each shade into separate cuts. You weed the darkest stain areas (foreground) first then transfer the whole thing to the wood surface and stain the dark areas only. Java in this case. Then, step 2. After it dries a while apply one coat of water based poly to it. Step 3, pull the vinyl of the next lightest (medium Brown) color and apply stain to it. *because of the poly in the dark Java, it doesn’t have to be masked and won’t smear. The medium shade of brown will slightly change the color of the dark areas with poly so it’s best to cover all the dark so it isn’t blotchy.

Thank you so much!! It’s my understanding that ht55 transfer tape is the recommended match for the matte Orcal 631 vinyl. A medium or low tac transfer may have more trouble remaining adhered to the vinyl when removing from the vinyl backing before application. I’m not sure I understood your question about the stain seeping through? Your transfer tape should not impact stain bleed at all. We do have another video on presenting stain bleed, and feel 631 provides a pretty stellar paint barrier, however that video outlines other factors that can cause bleed that you can control too 👍

For something as simple as a border I would “remask” it. So I’d lay tape where my line will be and stain my board, leaving bare wood where line is, then move tape to cover stain edge and then paint. This is probably the quickest. You could also paint border then cover with tape and stain board, but I’d test this process on scrap to ensure tape doesn’t damage paint You can paint over stain, however I would allow stain to dry, then poly, allow to cure, then tape and paint line. Stain will continue to offgas so you don’t want to seal it in too soon by immediately painting it. Poly will help the paint be even crisper, but you don’t want to tape of poly that hasn’t had at least 24 hours to cure Hope that’s helpful

Thanks Donda! I can send you some great examples of simple monogram wedding sets with a single stain color and no paint needed. Message me on Instagram or Facebook.

In a nutshell, I’d suggest using light color plywood like Baltic birch, use cut vinyl to mask the natural wood with the monogram, the wedding date, and a nice border maybe around the hole too. Then stain the whole board with a medium or dark gel stain. Pull the vinyl and it’ll be beautiful. Grains and stains is always a winner!

just a sanding of 320 and dusting with a brush and vacuum. Smooth, dust-free, you're good.

So many variables it’s hard to make a recommendation. Assuming you’re stenciling with acrylic paints, that’s what I use most when do use paint, a coat or two of poly helps avoid pulling up the wood grain when you remove the stencil and the paint edges are super clean.

A great question. Normally no. However, if you stain the entire background and you’re painting designs over it, yes. A coat of poly and a quick light sanding will protect the stained wood from pulling up with the vinyl stencil. Gel Stain after poly will be very streaky and not coat evenly. Stain should always be applied to bare wood in my opinion.

Staining over stain doesn’t work too well. Stains tend to “seal” the wood and the next coat smears a bit. It can be done if the first coat is really light and the next is very dark. I prefer to do the opposite, staining the dark image first let it dry a long while then stain the “background” and over top of the dark image.

Hi, yes. I prefer gel stains but I also use acrylic paints.

They work well without a primer 👍

Juan, the exception is white or bright colors over a dark stained background, acrylics do need a primer for that. Light gray usually works well. Best of luck!

@@cornholecollective7116 Do you recommend putting down a few coats of poly first and light sanding- PRIOR priming and painting, or even just painting?

Hi Tom, we don't get into pricing in the videos. It really depends where you're building, what the local demand is, how complex the designs are, what type of bags are included, so many variables. Nice custom cornhole sets usually range from $250 - $350 in most markets plus shipping, which can be a lot. $60-$100 for shipping typically.

That’s in Phase 5. Check that out. We have lots of videos about clear coat.

Hi Paula, that’s just hood acrylic paint from Hobby Lobby. I will say that it loses a lot of luster when you clear coat it but still looks good. A must for my Vegas Golden Knights boards!

I always poly the frame and legs. Staining or painting the frames, Really depends on the look you want. I rarely paint or stain the legs ither than logos on the brace.

Great question Beverly! Some use a pre-stain wood conditioner with liquid stains, with gel stains, that doesn’t help. Sanding to about 220 and cleaning the dust is all the prep you need.

Brian Munroe thanks! Each design is a little different. Intricate designs take probably 30 min to cut, 30-40 to weed and tape, couple hours to stain and clean up edges.

Hi Kevin! I only use gel stains unless I’m doing a full background stain before the designs. If you’re painting over stain, it helps to seal it with a coat of poly first, protects the stain so fibers don’t pull up with your tape or stencil vinyl.

We do sell some design files and you can order stencils. Cornholecollective.com/store Cornholecollective.com/friends

@@cornholecollective7116 Awesome thanks. For now im just building for fun on the side, putting them local online and building for friends etc. Looking forward to getting creative. The stains are so cool

In your cut screen, you can separate by color. This allows you to place the pieces (if using colored vinyl) one at a time. Or, cut and stencil paint colors one at a time. Also, using clear transfer tape helps alignment So Much when you’re remasking.

A video on how you line up and match two stencils such as the ground where the dark and light brown of the deer boards would be awsome. Is it one image that you cut and separate or two separate images that you manually align?

If you mean to leave the vinyl down like a decal, you can poly over that. That’s not what we specialize in so I wouldn’t want to advise, however I’d assume you’d want to use an outdoor (permanent) vinyl instead of indoor (removable), and I believe you need a layer of sanded poly beneath the vinyl. Hope that helps

@@cornholecollective7116 , thank you for your help.

I had someone show me a video of them absolutely doing amazing work with the mask, but when I tried on Baltic it mutilated my wood and bled like crazy. 631 works great for me, and I wasn’t willing to invest more stress to strive for equal results. I don’t want to hate on it because some have gotten great results, but it just wasn’t good for me

Never had an issue, I’m very small scale and don’t advertise at all. For the last few years, moving toward a lot more unique and custom designs instead of teams and brands.

Not 100% sure I follow but this is a vinyl cutter, not a printer so you cut either decals (positive image) or stencils (negative image) from vinyl. Whether it’s decal or stencil just depends on which parts you throw in the trash. You can cut the various colors of a vectorized image and then layer the vinyl based on color but that’d get too thick for cornhole probably.

So let's say I wanted to do an American flag vinyl, will it come out with red white and blue or does it do just whatever the color of your vinyl is? Hope that is little clearer. Lol

I guess I'm referring to decals not so much stencils

Thanks Katie! Hunter and I (Scott) have only used Oracal 631 for our stencils. Anything outdoor, high-tack will pull up the wood grains a lot more. Fine sanding definitely helps reduce bleed and grain tear up. Creatures of habit I suppose when we find a material that works well.

​@@cornholecollective7116 Definitely understand that. I've had mixed results with the Ormask, depending on how much time I took to push it all down. Using a heat gun has certainly helped. Also, just took the next step and ordered a 24 inch vinyl cutter (only had my 12 inch Silhouette) and a roll of 631.

Oh boy! Bigger vinyl for bigger projects! Tag us on Instagram if you post something! Welcome to the Collective!

Thanks! Used acrylic true red, watered down and applied wet, wiped off so it looks like a deep red stain.

@@cornholecollective7116 Thanks for the info. Do you have experience with applying gel stain over dye stain?

Thanks for watching! If you want the entire background stained yes. The sealer helps prevent the stained fibers from coming up with the vinyl stencil after painting.

My wife hates my videos too. SMH. I don’t do a team images any more and when I did, they were all gifts. ;)

3/8 round is large. Try 1/4” or 1/8” i like a 1/4” round over not fully extended best. Leaves a nice flat side with a bit of a rounded edge.

For sure. Phase 5 video goes over the finishing steps. Several coats of poly and fine sanding them more poly.

Thanks! That’s Minwax Coffee color as the background color and Minwax Cherrywood in the middle of the Center logo. All the lightest color from the unmasking is the natural wood. Baltic birch here is very light in color.

@@cornholecollective7116 Nice. Thanks for the reply! Good to know. Sometimes you just gotta put the stain down to see what it looks like. I am going to try Varathane Dark Walnut and Early American on birch plywood. I hope it's enough contrast.

Software comes with cutter. Any high resolution image with solid colors and no shading works

Scott has vinyl master and hunter has sure cuts a lot, both of the software options for Uscutter brand machines. They tend to be the two most popular by far (probably 95%+) amongst fellow builders

631 white and HT55 Oratape transfer tape. I actually ran out of tape yesterday and I’m an emergency situation bought some clear stuff at Hobby Lobby. It was amazing.

Hi Jay! We use 3/4” birch tops, 1x3 frames made from ripped pine or the same plywood as the tops. Kreg screws, carriage bolts, and finishing materials. Website has links to everything but the plywood. CornholeCollective.com

The transfer tape is used to move the entire stencil from thar paper backing to the blank cornhole board. Imagine moving a sticker with 295 separate pieces wuthout something to temporarily stick them to.

Free plans! Thanks! Check all the videos on the channel, I don't ask for anything. I sell plenty of boards and have fun with the tutorial videos.

Yes for sure. I do a "paint wash" sometimes to tint the wood grain background. To prevent that from pulling up, sand it with 320 and then spray or brush a clear coat on there. The stencil vinyl will adhere and seal really nicely to that.

Thank you so much for replying. I'm stressing, lol. Making my very first boards. Nothing as professional as yours but as long as I don't mess them up I'm gonna be thrilled. I have one more question I really hope you can get to. How long should I let the final paint(design) dry before doing the poly? I did see your video on how to apply the poly!! Thank you for that!

Oh oh lol. K question 1. How long should I let the spray coat of poly dry before I use the 631 stencil and then paint? 2. How long do I let the paint from the design dry before I do my four coats of poly? Thank you so much for your time!

Sometimes I build a bunch of completed but unfinished sets. These are a bit more work to stain because I have to mask the frame. Lately, I've been prepping all the frames and decks then working on designs before attaching them to the frames. Less masking that way.

Do you use 2x4 lumber or 1x4 hardwood for the frame?

Hi Tom, Hunter and I (Scott) are focusing on helping other builders lately and aren’t taking new orders right now. Most builders who make and sell customized sets with customized bags and such charge $275-$400. Depending on demand in their area. Head over to Cornholecollective.com/map to find someone close to you.

Vinyl stickers?! Vinyl Stickers?! Jk. All the vinyl I use is for stencils and after painting or staining the designs they go in the trash. What’s left is the stained or painted designs in the gaps. After it’s all dried completely several coats of polyurethane seal them. Check out Phase 5 video for finishing steps. Thanks for watching!

@@cornholecollective7116 gotcha!! I thought some we're actually vinyl stickers to stay on there, like a wrap. Love your boards and your channel, you're doing great. Keep it up.

Thanks so much and that’s a compliment. Paint and stains are never flawless but real art never is.

Mike Zimmerman thanks, just keeping it a hobby. I’ll probably start taking new orders in May or June. I’m pretty swamped. Message me on Instagram if you’re interested. Shipping is expensive. Prices vary based on design.

J's DIY thanks! Just the basic stuff that comes with the cutter. VinylMaster Cut. Nothing crazy.

the free one that comes with it, VinylMaster Cut. If you have an Apple, you can get Sure Cuts A Lot.

Cornhole Collective thank you I will try it out

Oracal 631 Vinyl and Oratape HT55 tape.

Absolutely. I leave the star and stripe orientation up to my client. I know it's a touchy subject. The reality is that the boards are sitting in the den most of the time and this time, they'll be in the right orientation when not in use.

Hi, no. But several of our friends do. Check out cornholecollective.com/friends

I (Scott) have a MH 721 cutter and Hunter (BurlyBags) is a one-upper so he has a Titan. Both are from US Cutter.

@@cornholecollective7116 what do you think about ur cutter?

I’m not sure anyone has the rights to flag image use, but I HAVE gotten to hear lots of opinions about how it’s used 😜

Thanks Zack! Hasn't been an issue. Our volume is very low compared to many others.

@@cornholecollective7116 thanks for the reply. I just don't understand the whole "we haven't been sued yet so it's ok" thing.

Mousey hey Mike, you can ask here or message me on Instagram or Facebook @MossBoards on both.

Thanks Mousey! We need a recovery program for gel stains, we're hooked too. Best way to ask questions is in a related video's comments or on Instagram. Thanks!

If we could keep them all, we would. :) Message on Instagram.

Noted. I’ll be sure to consult with you next time.

I totally understand and respect that point of view. I would say that my personal concerns for completing sets like these are subdued when they’re for the patriots that help uphold all that the flag stands for.

You aren’t far off. Lumber prices are making it nearly impossible.