This registered nurse in Oak Creek builds and sells custom cornhole boards
The thwack of a sack hitting a wood board is a sound heard at many bars and backyard barbecues.
Cornhole, also called “bags” or “sack toss,” has skyrocketed in popularity.
Oak Creek resident Jim Batchelder builds custom boards for bowling alleys, bars and other businesses, or for anyone who wants a custom set. His designs have included company logos, hobbies, names and more.
His attraction to cornhole is the game offers level competition.
“I can be an 8-year-old kid or a 75-year-old grandma and we’re throwing the same bag 27 feet,” he said. “The only advantage you have in cornhole is the amount of practice you put into it.”
Batchelder also likes the charity component, saying the sport lends itself to raise money. His daughter’s dance team at Oak Creek High School is holding a cornhole tournament July 22 at Tailgaters in Caledonia. There Batchelder will also raffle off one of his custom cornhole boards.
Batchelder, a woodworker, started 414 Boards this year
Batchelder started 414 Boards officially earlier this year though he’d been building boards since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
About three years ago, a coworker asked Batchelder, who had always been a woodworker, if he could make a set of cornhole boards.
“A rectangle board with a hole in the middle isn’t really a complicated woodworking project,” he said. “We played during COVID because you could play outside.”
This new set caught the attention of others, and soon Batchelder was making boards for a local league. He made a few sets and joined a league with his neighbor.
“It just kind of turned into something,” Batchelder said, adding his kids and wife would say he’s become obsessed with cornhole.
Since becoming an official LLC, Batchelder has made boards for many local businesses including the Root River Center in Franklin, D’Vine in Oak Creek, Krones in Franklin, Bridgewater Modern Grill in Milwaukee and The American Legion Post 434 in Oak Creek, where he also plays in a league and has built six or seven boards for the Sons of the American Legion.
“The D’Vine sets are one of my favorite designs that I’ve done,” he said.
Batchelder has worked with many cornhole leagues including the MKE Baggers, Brew State Baggers from the Menomonee Falls area, and the Lake County Baggers in Illinois for whom he’s made about 15 sets of boards.
'Wedding boards' have been a popular option
Another popular option this year has been wedding boards. Batchelder said many couples use the boards as a "signature book" guests can sign. After the wedding, he adds a polyurethane coat, sealing in the signatures and making a lifetime memento of that special moment. Thus far he’s done between eight and 10 wedding orders.
Plain wood stain boards cost $200 for a set while custom boards are $300. Batchelder doesn’t build bags for his boards, instead he works with a company out of Iowa called Hole Colonel Bag Company. A full set of eight custom bags, filled with resin pellets to prevent the mold corn can create, adds $100 onto the price of the boards.
Most orders have come from word-of mouth, Batchelder said, though he does run an ad on Facebook Marketplace.
All boards are 'perfect' and built to American Cornhole League standards
When an order comes in to 414 Boards, Batchelder works with the customer on the design, sending proofs and making tweaks until they’re satisfied. While Batchelder used to order sheets of plywood and cut everything manually, now the boards come pre-cut by a CNC machine.
“Everything I do now is perfect,” he said. “Every hole is exactly the same, every board is exactly the same and up to American Cornhole League standards.”
The boards are either stained by Batchelder or, if it’s a custom design, they go to The Scan Group in Waukesha which prints the design right onto the board.
“It’s so much nicer than a vinyl sticker because it’s not going to peel up,” Batchelder said. “The sky is the limit for design.”
The final step is the application of the water-based polyurethane coat onto the board.
“What separates cornhole board builders is the finish,” Batchelder said. “It creates a smooth, repeatable product, and all my boards play the same.”
A plain stained set takes about a week to create, while a custom set can take four to six weeks, he said.
A registered nurse, Batchelder says he loves helping people
Outside of building boards, Batchelder has been a full-time registered nurse for 25 years.
“I love nursing, I love helping people,” he said.
His love of helping people and passion for woodworking has led Batchelder to donate boards to support causes.
A cornhole tournament is scheduled for Sept. 23 hosted by The Root River Center to benefit Michelle Kurtz who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Kurtz and her husband, Tom Kurtz, are running the tournament and Batchelder donated boards.
He also donated a set of boards to the American Legion in Oak Creek.
Whether it’s friends tossing bags at a bar with the help of some “aiming juice” (a name players give beer), or people playing professionally in the American Cornhole league ― which is coming to the Milwaukee Yard in Oak Creek July 7-9 ― Batchelder said the game’s broad appeal is fueling its increasing popularity.
Contact Erik S. Hanley at erik.hanley@jrn.com. Like his Facebook page, The Redheadliner, and follow him on Twitter @Redheadliner.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: This Oak Creek resident builds and sells custom cornhole boards
