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Great pics of cornholes and other useful wood products for your home and garden.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Just want to say HELLO and welcome

Welcome! My name is Shannon and I am a "sawduster", which means I make useful items from wood as a hobby. My wife, Debbee gave me that name. I would work on my projects in the garage and she could see me from the kitchen window, and saw that I had been working quite a while with no results to show. One day my son stopped by, saw me in the garage and asked what I was making. Before I could answer, Debbee hollered from the other room, "sawdust, and lots of it". So that's what I make, sawdust, and a few other items as well and one of those is custom cornhole boards. Thanks to the News-Herald, I am going to be writing all about this very fun outdoor game of cornhole. With some cornhole stories and an explanation as to the construction of the boards, I think we are going to have some fun and relay some tips and tricks that I picked up along the way.

To explain what is the game of cornhole, picture a game that resembles horseshoes but without the pegs or horseshoes . We know the game! (two players at each end of the playing area tossing "shoes" back and forth so no walking required and more time for drinking a healthy beverage)Heavy object (horseshoe) is tossed underhand at some distant target, except in cornhole the bags aren't heavy. Or maybe you can picture jarts. Remember jarts? Steel pointed spears with plastic feathers that you tossed underhand towards a ring on the ground with people actually standing near it. Remember? (two players at each end of the playing area tossing "spears" back and forth so no walking required and more time for drinking a healthy beverage)
Oh, that sounds like fun! Helmet and safety glasses should have been a requirement.

Ok. Let's review. The similiarty of cornhole to horseshoes and jarts is an object is tossed underhand at a target some distance away. Got that? And that "something" is not heavy or pointy. It is a one pound and not an ounce more, six inch square canvas bag (supposed to be duck cloth) filled with feed corn being tossed underhand 27 feet (33 feet hole to hole) to a 24 inch wide by 48 inch deep plywood board with its rear end off ground twelve inches so you have slope of about ten degrees. The bags will not break your foot nor will they stab you if one does happen to go astray. Actually you could catch it if you are so inclined and not get hurt. And you can still have a hand free for a healthy beverage. Personally, I think it is one fun-est, safest family or friends or corporate or carnival or festival game there is. And the best part is you can make yourself. And we will talk all about how to do it and where to get the bags and how to make them pretty to look at, like mine.

And it does go deeper than just cornholes. I make all sorts of handy and very useful items from plywood, pine and two by fours, cause they are cheap materials and readily available, and I would love to tell you all about them and maybe pass on some neat tips and tricks to encourage you to do something that would give you some satisfaction of having made it yourself. It does not have to be wood. It can be anything, just do it yourself. We'll talk more later, ok? I will also include pictures as well. There are pictures on this blog of the cornholes and www.lccornhole.com of the other items.

You probably picked up on the fact that I am not a professional workworker. I am a laid off senior, who decided to retire and play with the toys I really enjoy. Toys that I was lucky to get before my working days were over, because I would not have afforded them now, that's for sure. And, if used properly, can turn out some very nice toy boxes, marble games and many, many useful products.

But something else about me is, even though I may not be a pro, does not mean I don't take pride in what I do for a hobby. Safety of the finished product is most important. My two grandaughters, Abby and Livi, use my step stools and benchs everyday and those stools are strong. And safe! My motto for the stools and benchs is "they are strong enough to hold me". And I am a good size fellow. Ok. You got me! That's not really my motto, but it is still true. They have to be safe. And not being a pro gives me an out for every mistake. And making the mistakes is part of the fun, cause you learn something each and every time.

Thank you and see ya soon!

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