DIY Cab - Finally decided it was time

[mjncad]

Don't feel so bad about your project taking longer than expected. Some (most) of my projects move at a glacial pace if I'm lucky.

[chim]

There are at least a few excuses for the schedule slipping. They range from Wifey wanting me around the house to keep tabs on a couple contractors to a death in the family. It isn't that I want to complain. My concern is that we'll have the only real snows fall before I get her home. I'm extremely thankful things went as well as they have. My original idea was to fab it right here at home. Wow, that would have been a wreck. Since any substantial amount of welding includes more bouncing sparks than would be safe in my cluttered garage (plus all the smoke) the welding would have to be done outside.

The guys at the shop have helped out during gaps in their work, and the available tooling has been a great help. Since there were no real plans, the slower pace allowed for thinking and research along the way. Since I'm a casual user and not a "Real Millwright & Cadd Guy" the best approach was to not frustrate myself with plans where the measurements were constantly wrong. Instead, there was a general concept that was followed a process of adding pieces here and there till it looked like the picture in my head.

[mjncad]

I've found that doing projects like your cab on the fly works out better in some cases than CAD'ing up plans since we don't have the manufacturer's computer models and drawings to easily base our CAD designs off of. If I'm building an implement or accessory that doesn't rely on lots of measurements off the tractor, then I usually CAD up a detailed set of plans. If it's something that's best designed as I go along, then I may do quick cartoon CAD studies for proof of concept.

[chim]

Made some progress this week. The cab was disassembled into its main sections last week and primed. Monday it was finish painted. After agonizing over what color to paint which sections I went with all gray except for an orange top. Determining where to split the colors was getting to be a pain.

To keep the cab reasonably weather tight I found this neat "D" shaped self adhesive weatherstripping at Lowes. A single run of it to be squished between sections should do the trick.



Stayed after work and got all the glass glued in. The adhesive was a one-part butyl material from a car parts place and came in a regular caulk tube. I was fiddling around with some other stuff for a couple hours after doing the glass and the adhesive was only starting to develop a non-sticky skin after over two hours. I hope it cures fast enough to assemble the cab by Friday. Here are the pieces scattered around the shop. The glass is sandwiched safety glass with a slight tint (about like the factory side windows on my pickup). The angled brackets sticking up on the left side of the nearest section are for the forward-facing work lights.

[mjncad]

That's looking great. I can't wait to see what you do on the inside for creature comforts. If for some reason, the Lowe's weather stripping pukes on you, check out what McMaster-Carr has to offer. McMaster-Carr

[chim]

Here's the weatherstripping I used in the picture above:

Shop Frost King 1/4" x 3/8" x 17' Grey, D-Section EPDM Rubber Weatherstrip Tape at Lowes.com

It's purpose is to perform as a gasket between bolted-together sections. I did get some really nice door gaskets from McM/C as you suggested earlier. It is really nice material. It has metal embedded in the rubber that grabs the flange and a hollow "D" profile that will really take care of any gaps.

[radioman]

I like how you did the curves on metal on doors for windows .. nice job. I couldnt do that .

[chim]

I like how you did the curves on metal on doors for windows .. nice job. I couldnt do that .

Don't sell yourself short. I have some experience with metal but never attempted anything of this magnitude before.

Here are a couple pictures of the door weatherstripping from McMaster. It is very pliable and will take on whatever amount of compressing required to to seal the gaps at the doors.

[mjncad]

Here's the weatherstripping I used in the picture above:

Shop Frost King 1/4" x 3/8" x 17' Grey, D-Section EPDM Rubber Weatherstrip Tape at Lowes.com

It's purpose is to perform as a gasket between bolted-together sections. I did get some really nice door gaskets from McM/C as you suggested earlier. It is really nice material. It has metal embedded in the rubber that grabs the flange and a hollow "D" profile that will really take care of any gaps.

Don't sell yourself short. I have some experience with metal but never attempted anything of this magnitude before.

Here are a couple pictures of the door weatherstripping from McMaster. It is very pliable and will take on whatever amount of compressing required to to seal the gaps at the doors.

Oops, I forgot I already suggested McMaster-Carr. That "D" shaped material you got from Lowe's looks preety good. The McMaster-Carr weatherstipping you got was exactly the style I was thinking about for your build.

[mjncad]

Here's the weatherstripping I used in the picture above:

Shop Frost King 1/4" x 3/8" x 17' Grey, D-Section EPDM Rubber Weatherstrip Tape at Lowes.com

It's purpose is to perform as a gasket between bolted-together sections. I did get some really nice door gaskets from McM/C as you suggested earlier. It is really nice material. It has metal embedded in the rubber that grabs the flange and a hollow "D" profile that will really take care of any gaps.

Don't sell yourself short. I have some experience with metal but never attempted anything of this magnitude before.

Here are a couple pictures of the door weatherstripping from McMaster. It is very pliable and will take on whatever amount of compressing required to to seal the gaps at the doors.

Oops, I forgot I already suggested McMaster-Carr. That "D" shaped material you got from Lowe's looks pretty good. The McMaster-Carr weatherstipping you got was exactly the style I was thinking about for your build.