Are You Able to Crack This? The Forgotten Dutch Invention Which Shaped the Contemporary World
One can find numerous candidates for the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, however, that title should go to a mechanised timber mill invented through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before automated sawing, building a simple trading ship necessitated around ten lumberjacks laboring for 90 days,” writes the author. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of processed timber could be manufactured within seven days.”
Thanks to their rapid mechanical cutter, which turned timber to boards with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct ships more quickly compared to anyone else, an advantage that sparked a century of Dutch naval, financial as well as artistic dominance in the continent and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's sawmill, contends Dávila, was “humanity’s first authentic factory apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a gear. A single part converted its circular movement to vertical motion for the saw. Another component transformed the spinning motion into a lateral movement advancing the timber toward the blade. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead a measured step per stroke.
“Each element was simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to integrate them in order that the machine operated in a precisely synchronized order, cutting with each downward motion while moving with each return motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us to the current puzzle. I’d like you to reinvent one of the basic ideas underpinning this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine that turns circular motion to up-and-down action. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the rods can slide snugly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a base, so the parts do not collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (non obvious) candidates for the planet’s most impactful invention.
