Rudy Kouhoupt Copperhead Steam Roller

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For what it's worth...... I've heard that Rudy had articles and plans published in Popular Mechanics magazine. (possibly popular science) As the magazine was evolving into what it is now, demand for machine work articles was dwindling. About that same time, Rudy moved to Live Steam Magazine, and also had many submissions to Home Shop Machinist as the years went by.

At some point, Popular Mechanics passed the copyrights for plans they had published back to him. When I met him at the Village Press table at the old PRIME shows, he was selling drawings of some of the old articles. I'm pretty sure he told me that none of these drawings appeared in any Village Press publications.

At this point it's anybody's guess what happened to any remaining drawings. It's a safe bet that lots of guys died with them. I have no idea if he had drawings for all of his PM articles, or not. Popular Mechanics back issues might be the next place to look, Good Luck!
 
Still working on this. No luck with Live Steam, Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Mechanix Illustrated, HSM, you name it.

The Jersey Boys came up with a suggestion that I was looking for a Birk Petersen roller, but that's not it, nor is it a Bill Harris roller.

This really has to be one of the most elusive things out there, but I live in hope....
 
Back again
Yes, it was Popular Mechanics magazine as Ratshooter said , that Rudy worked with.
And I know for sure it was not a Bill Harris design . I looked in some of my files
and found this picture which was taken in Rudy's backyard during one of my visits.
I am going to guess it was taken 25 years ago , and the picture of him running his steam Tractor
during a NAMES show is 20 years ago , just a few years before he passed away
I'll keep looking
Rich
I
Rudy and Me   - 2003 Maybe.jpg
 
Hi well done , good to see all these models going, myself , to muh other work, but working on my project slowly , go well and be safe to ALL, MIKE
 
Thanks for that, Rich. It would be nice if something were to turn up.

And the design is definitely not the Harris one; I have one of those rollers.

If I were capable of using FreeCad or one of those programs, I'd take a shot at creating some drawings from the two photos that I have; alas, the learning curve there is awfully steep.

As (and if) I learn more, I'll keep this thread updated.
 
I went to the site, but like you I didn't trust it. Besides, the little I saw suggested that the book deals with full-sized rollers, and I just want Rudy's little model.
 
Rudy told me he scaled it from a prototype parked in his town so i thought the book might have the name of the Roller. There is another possibility ( for Proto Info ) and that is to call Bridgewater NJ and see if they have a historical society , and if so, perhaps someone has info...never hurts to ask !
Rich
Finding the Prototype name, leads to the location where it was built and that leads to museums or society that records town info and sometimes they have drawings.. but not scaled of course.
 
Thanks, Rich. I'll check out Bridgewater.

And as for the de Waal roller, sarel, it looks remarkably like the Bill Harris model.
 
I’m currently on the road, but it sure seems like I had plans for the copperhead somewhere. Beyond my abilities or patience, but I kept them anyway, because, well…. All things mechanical, right?

John W
 
I’m currently on the road, but it sure seems like I had plans for the copperhead somewhere. Beyond my abilities or patience, but I kept them anyway, because, well…. All things mechanical, right?

John W

Hey! That's terrific--if you still have them, of course....

How can I obtain them from you?
 
And as for the de Waal roller, sarel, it looks remarkably like the Bill Harris model.

The de Waal drawings do indicate that they are based on the Bill Harris design. I'm a member of a group that has about a dozen Bill Harris rollers stalled at about the assembly stage. We were all in the same town, now scattered in several states. I have most of the tanks and boxes made...
100_0733.JPG
100_0754.JPG
100_0758.JPG
100_0760.JPG
 
Hey! That's terrific--if you still have them, of course....

How can I obtain them from you?
Sorry, no love so far. I still have a bunch of archived files on DVDs to check, but it wasn’t in my library or computer hard drive.

I’ll dig into those DVDs this week after my company leaves.

John W
 
Sorry, no love so far. I still have a bunch of archived files on DVDs to check, but it wasn’t in my library or computer hard drive.

I’ll dig into those DVDs this week after my company leaves.

John W

Thank you for taking the trouble, John. I'm keeping my fingers crossed....
 
Thank you for taking the trouble, John. I'm keeping my fingers crossed....
Sorry Pard, no luck. If I had them, they’re long gone I’m afraid, perhaps I got it confused with my Rudy construction books with the traction engine. I’ll keep looking through the rest of my library, but the common places have proven to be a dry hole.

Good luck with your search, and if I happen across anything at all, I’ll drop you a line.

John W
 
Darn!

You know, this is something that may never surface again, and that's a shame, because that roller deserves to be built.

Thanks again for looking, and if it ever does turn up, please let me know.
 

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