Meet Dayton Kohler, a mechanical engineer turned custom van designer. He uses his engineering background, SketchUp, and Fabber to create out-of-the-box van conversions at VanBuilders in Salt Lake City. Learn about the challenges he’s faced, the projects he takes on, and his ultimate fabrication workflow.
Tell me a little bit about your background, Van Builders, and your current role.
I went to school in Montana and got my degree in mechanical engineering. As soon as I graduated I got a job as a designer at a van conversion startup which is when I first discovered SketchUp. Once I started using SketchUp, I went to 3D Basecamp 2018 in Palm Springs to learn more about SketchUp and fabrication. In Palm Springs, I took Eric Schimelpfenig’s course on fabrication, which was super interesting and eye-opening for me and my workflow.
Currently, I work as a designer at VanBuilders in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was able to take all of my prior SketchUp knowledge from the startup and use it in my new role. VanBuilders focuses on converting Mercedes Sprinter vans for a variety of uses, the main one being recreational or outdoor adventure vehicles. We also outfit commercial vehicles. For example, we’ve converted vans for grocery stores to help deliver groceries to people. With the commercial vans, we focus on shelving and how to optimize the space for gear.
In my role as the sole designer, I’ve been trying to standardize all of the components on our standard builds so we can quickly and efficiently convert vans. Before me, everything was custom work. Now, I use SketchUp to create all of our models as well as a process for standardization.
