Are You Able to Crack This? The Forgotten Netherlands Invention Which Forged the Modern World
One can find many contenders to claim the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, however, that honor belongs to the mechanised sawmill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, constructing a simple trading ship required around 10 lumberjacks working for 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, an identical amount of processed timber might be manufactured within seven days.”
Owing to their rapid automated saw, that converted logs into planks with virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build ships faster than anyone else, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch maritime, economic and artistic supremacy across the continent and the world.
The Original Genuine Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s initial true factory machine.” A windmill turned a wheel. A single part transformed the circular motion to vertical action for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed that same rotary motion into a lateral movement advancing the log to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the wood ahead a measured step per stroke.
“Every component seemed modest on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate them in order that the machine operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing on every downward stroke and advancing with each return stroke. It was an astonishingly clever use of basic parts.”
Which brings us to the current puzzle. The task is you to reimagine one of the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine that turns rotary motion to up-and-down motion. You have these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a stand, so that the parts don’t collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time with the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates as the world’s most impactful creation.
