Can You Solve This? That Forgotten Netherlands Invention That Shaped our Modern Globe
One can find many contenders for the designation as “world’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, however, that title should go to the automated sawmill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, building a simple trading ship necessitated approximately ten lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven lumber mills, the same amount of processed timber could be manufactured within seven days.”
Thanks to their rapid automated cutter, which turned timber to boards using almost no human effort, Dutch builders could construct ships more quickly compared to any other nation, which sparked one hundred years of Dutch maritime, economic and artistic dominance in Europe and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's sawmill, argues Dávila, was “mankind’s initial authentic factory apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. One component transformed its rotary motion into vertical motion for the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the rotary motion into a sideway’s movement feeding the log toward the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the log ahead one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element seemed modest by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate these parts in order that the machine acted within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing with each downward motion and moving with each return stroke. It was a remarkably clever application of fundamental parts.”
A fact that brings us up to today’s challenge. The task is you to reinvent one of the basic ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine which converts circular movement into up-and-down action. Your available these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a stand, so the parts do not fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) contenders for the world’s most impactful creation.
