Making the Parts for the Basketball Games

Parts List

1. Base


2. Backboard


3. Hoop


4. Launcher


5. Post


6. String


7. Wooden Ball

We have been working on making the parts for the basketball games for several weeks.

1. The base and backboard were cut from oak and cherry wood donated by our friends in Silver City, SD. Sizes: base: 3" by 10" by 3/4"; backboard: 3" by 4" x 3/4".

2. The most labor intensive part of the BB game is the hoop. This year we were assisted in making the hoop by our friends at J&D Woodworking, Inc. Jim and Dick put their heads together and decided their CNC Router would be a great tool to use to cut the hoops. This was a huge help to us and saved us countless hours of time. They cut the hoops from a piece of 3/4"birch plywood. The parts then were popped from the mother piece, requiring only a quick touchup on the router table with a flush cutting bit. Thanks Jim and Dick!

3. Launchers were made from recycled packing material reclaimed by Grant. The launchers are 2"wide by 1 5/8" deep by 1 1/8" thick. A slot 3/4" deep and cut at a 5 degree angle was cut to hold the launching spoon.

4. The post was cut from 1/2" dowels. It is 9 3/8 " long.

5. The string used for the BB game to retain the launched wooden ball is nylon and cut to a length of 17 inches using a thermal wire cutter. This leaves a clean cut with no frayed edges.

6. The basketball is a 1 inch diameter wooden ball, which is drilled to accept the string. Two holes are drilled, one small hole all the way through, and a large hole to hold the knot in the string.

Jigs were assembled last fall which allows us to repeat several essential operations in the assembly process. We will begin that assembly process this week.

the end