Can You Crack This? The Forgotten Dutch Creation That Forged our Modern Globe
One can find many contenders to claim the title of “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, though, that title belongs to a mechanised sawmill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated around ten sawyers working for 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven sawmills, the same amount of cut lumber might be manufactured within a week.”
Owing to this rapid mechanical saw, which converted timber to planks with virtually no manual labor, the Dutch were able to build vessels faster compared to any other nation, which sparked a century of Dutch naval, financial and cultural dominance across Europe and the globe.
The First Genuine Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, was “mankind’s first authentic factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. A single part transformed its circular movement into vertical action for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism changed the spinning motion into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber toward the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood ahead one precise increment each cycle.
“Each element was modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to integrate them in order that the machine operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each downward motion while moving on every upward motion. This constituted a remarkably clever application of fundamental parts.”
Which leads us to the current puzzle. The task is you to reinvent a key the fundamental concepts underpinning this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns circular movement to vertical action. Your available these items only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or housing into which one of the bars will fit snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so the components do not fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) contenders as the world’s greatest invention.
