Phillies Sadium Cork Board

We moved to New Jersey 2 years ago, and my 6 year old son became an instant Phillies fan. He wears a Phillies shirt most days of the week, knows the players and their numbers, has a Philly Phanatic stuffy, and of course loves to see them play. He even wants to be a Phillies player when he grows up (and a professional soccer player, and PE teacher).

After I made his older brother a Mondrian inspired bulletin board, he wanted his own. But of course it had to be Phillies themed.

After brainstorming different ideas, we decided to model the whole board after Citizens Bank Park. This would give the board some depth, create a couple of small shelves, and just look cool.

The steps listed and templates included should allow you to make this exact board, but I think there is enough detail here that you could take this concept and create your own home team's stadium.

This concept would be great for a laser cutter or CNC. Pieces could be cut out and assembled with precision. Since I am cutting all the pieces out by hand, I will be using a flush trim router bit to make identical pieces.

Materials

24" x 36" x 1/4" Baltic Birch Plywood (1 sheet)

24" x 36" x 1/4" Cork Sheets (3 sheets total)

Paint

1. Craft Smart: Shamrock
2. Craft Smart: Hunter Green
3. Craft Smart: Red
4. Craft Smart: Burgundy
5. Craft Smart: Navy Blue

Masking Tape

Mini Paint Roller

Sticker Paper

Wood Glue

Tools

Table Saw

Jig Saw

Scroll Saw

Drill

X-acto Knife

Router

1. Flush Trim Bit
2. Chamfer Bit
3. Keyhole Bit

To create the template for each layer I used SketchUp.

I imported an image of Citizens Bank Park I found online, adjusted its size to be 24" x 24" and then used the line tool to manually trace the outline.

I then used the line tool and followed seat sections and referenced an actual photo of the stadium to play with the different layers and elevations using the push pull tool.

Finally, I added guide lines to the model to make it easier to align the printed pages of the template.

*You can no longer print full scale drawings with SketchUp unless you upgrade or have an education account as a student or teacher.

I am sure there is a better digital tool to do this with. An Adobe product? Fusion? If you have an idea, I'd love to hear about it!

The plywood will be the first layer, and provides a durable substrate for the cork. This will also become the master template for the outside of all the other layers.

Print out the paper template, assemble, and cut out the outline.

Transfer this to your 1/4 inch plywood.

Use every tool in the shop to precisely cut out this shape - it will become the pattern for your other layers.

1. I used a circular saw on a guide, a jig saw, and sled at the table saw.

In this step you are going to cut out the rough outline of the first three layers of cork, using the plywood backing as a template. Later you'll use the router and flush trim bit to bring these to final dimension.

Use the plywood master template to trace the outline on the cork boards. You want to cut the cork outside its final dimension - leaving about a 1/4 inch of material to trim off later with the trim router.

1. I used a marker to trace along the plywood template, and then cut just outside the marker line to leave extra material.
2. At this point I found that the scroll saw cut nicely, and used it to make these cuts, but an X-acto knife would work as well.

Next you'll use the paper template to transfer the inside cut for the 2nd and 3rd cork layers.

Cut out the inner cut line from the paper template and transfer to the 2nd cork layer. Cut this line as precisely as you can. Repeat this process for the 3rd layer.

1. I used the scroll saw, but you could also do this with a razor and straight edge, or the jig saw.

Upper Seating

Next you'll glue together your cork off-cuts to build extra thickness and cut out the two final components. The outside edge of these components will be cut over-sized and flushed up with the router later.

Glue Up

Use standard wood glue to laminate three layers of off-cuts - a total thickness of 3/4". Alternatively, you could buy 3/4" thick cork and skip this step.

1. I used a foam paint roller to spread the glue.

Apply pressure to the layers of cork while they dry.

1. I places a sheet of 1/2" mdf on top, and then place weights on top of that. The mdf helps spread out the weight.
2. This would also be a great time to have a vacuum press/bag.

Template

Cut out the paper template and transfer to the cork. The inside edges will be cut out precisely to their final dimension while the outside edge will be cut over-sized and flushed up later.

1. I used a scroll saw to make these cuts.

In this step the first layer of cork is glued to the plywood backing and flushed up with the router.

Glue Up

Glue the plywood backing and cork together. Use weights or clamp to apply even pressure while the glue dries.

Flush Trim

Use the Flush Trim Bit to cut the excess cork away.

Painting is completed in layers, using tape and hand cut stencils to mask areas off. When cutting out stencils, save the negative and positives to help place the stencils. A small foam roller allows quick and easy coverage with no brush marks.

Green (Shamrock)

Use the paper template and 2nd layer of cork to locate where the field will be painted. Tape down the outer paper template and use masking tape to inset the border. This will create the border of "dirt" around the grass.

Use the positive of the field stencil to locate and place the negative infield stencil.

Place the negative "P" stencil.

Paint the field green.

Dark Green (Shamrock + Hunter Green)

When dry, use masking tape to create parallel vertical lines.

Darken the light green paint a shade or two, and then paint the field again.

Red (50% Red + 50% Burgundy)

When dry, remove all tape and the negative "P" stencil.

Place the positive "P" stencil and paint the P Red.

White (Wicker White)

When dry, use masking tape to mask of the baselines.

Paint these white.

The next two layers of cork are painted navy blue in this step. Care is taken to paint only what will be visible, leaving surfaces that will be glued unpainted.

Cork Layer 2

Place Layer 3 on top of Layer 2, and use tape to mark the inside edge.

Remove Layer 3, and use the tape as a guide to mask off where Layer 3 will be glued. Remove the guide pieces of tape and paint.

Cork Layer 3

Repeat the previous process. Place the 4th Layer cork pieces, and mark their inside edge with tape. Use these tape pieces as a guide to mask of the areas where the 4th layer pieces will be glued. Remove the guide tape and paint.

Layers 2 and 3 will be glued in place, and trimmed flush before a chamfer is added to their outside edge. The 4th layer pieces will then be glued, painted and trimmed flush, and finished with a chamfer all the way around.

Layer 2 and 3

Layer 2 and 3 are glued in place and weighted to apply pressure while the glue dries.

Once dry, use the flush trim bit to trim them to size. The bearing should ride on the plywood, not the cork.

The outside edges will be given a 1/8" chamfer. This will make the edges less likely to dent or chip over time and gives a more finished look. Take care not to add a chamfer where Layer 4 pieces will be glued down.

Layer 4

Glue the 4th and final cork pieces in place. When dry, flush trim to match the outside edges. Extend the bit so that the bearing is riding on the plywood.

Paint the surfaces white.

When the paint is dry, add a 1/8" chamfer around the top edge.

Any mounting hardware will work (sawtooth, keyhole, and keyhole hardware are pictured). I chose to use a keyhole router bit.

I first measured from the front of the board to make sure the key holes would be located in an area with 2 layers of cork.

Each hole is 3 inches from the edge, and 16 inches apart.

The key hole bit is set to cut at a depth of 3/8".

To guide the bit, a template is taped to the board with doubt sides tape, and a bushing fits inside the template.

This cut can be done by riding the router against a straight edge, but I like having the router confined within the template to guarantee that it doesn't wander.