Monday, March 3, 2014

Homemade Plinko Board for Carnival

How I made the PLINKO Board for my Carnival Auction Fundraiser
 

 


Needs:
  • 2'x4' Peg Board
  • 2'x4' Backer Board (I used 3/4" Press Board)
  • Trim (if you want it)
  • Paint (I used white spray paint & a small acrylic bottle of each of the other colors)
  • Smallish Paint Brush
  • Wood Dowel Pins (1/4" x 1-1/4") (I purchased 10 packages of 26 Dowel Pins each for $1.98 each at Lowes)
  • 8 Screws (to attach the Peg Board to the Backer Board)
  • 14 Trim Nails (to attach the trim to the backer board & peg board once you put them together)
  • Wood Glue
  • Drill with Drill Tips & Screw Driver Tips
  • Hammer
  • Rubberbands
  • Poker Chip

Instructions:
  1. If you purchase the peg board, have it cut to size where you bought it (same with the backer board).
  2. Paint the Peg Board (I used a Spray Paint: White Primer & Paint in one, but it didn't cover like I expected & I had to buy another can)
  3. Put the Peg Board onto the Backer Board (of your choice) and pre-drill holes in the corners and down the sides where you will screw in the screws to attatch one to the other.
  4. Screw in the Screws in the holes you pre-drilled. (If you don't pre-drill, the screws will make a mess of your peg board).
  5. Cut the trim to length (I didn't know how to do it, so I ended up cutting them to short... oh well).
  6. Pre-Drill some holes for the trim nails in the side of the trim.
  7. Put some Wood Glue on the inside corner of the trim & place it on the Peg Board, holding it in place for a few minutes.
  8. Then tap in the Trim Nails into the side of the trim into the backer board with your hammer.
  9. Using your multi-colors of acrylic paint, paint the bottom of the Peg-Board in a "3 holes across & 4 holes up" section, using different colors for the different point sections.
  10. I used a stensil to outline the numbers in the different sections, then colored them in with black paint (I needed the Plinko board to have 0-5 point options, but you can choose to put in what ever numbers you need).
  11. Now it's time to put in the Dowel Pins...
  12. I started with the hole about 3 holes down from the top of the board, right against the side of the board & trim.
  13. Then I put a Dowel Pin across the board going every other hole. (dowel pin - empty hole - dowel pin - empty hole - etc...)
  14. Move down 2 rows of holes, move in one hole from the side of the board & trim and start over: dowel pin - empty hole - dowel pin - empty hole - etc...)
  15. Repeat...
  16. I did this for a total of 19 rows (an empty row between each)
  17. Then skipped 4 rowes (leaving them empty)



18. Then put 4 pegs down in a row between each colored section (making the sections that the poker chip will fall into to get points) and one peg at the bottom in the middle of the section so the poker chip doesn't fall out of the bottom.
19. Finally I used a clear gloss spray paint to cover the entire thing.

You will need to lean this Plinko board up agains something (table, wall, etc...) to get the right angle so the poker chip will stay on the board and not go flying off.