Can You Crack This? The Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Shaped the Contemporary World
One can find numerous candidates to claim the title of “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a new book, though, that honor should go to a mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated around ten lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be produced within a week.”
Owing to this speedy automated saw, which converted logs into planks using virtually no human effort, the Dutch were able to build ships faster compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed a century of Netherlands maritime, economic as well as artistic supremacy across the continent and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, was “mankind’s initial true factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part converted the circular motion into vertical motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the rotary motion into a lateral movement feeding the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood ahead one precise increment per stroke.
“Each element seemed simple by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to integrate these parts in order that they operated within a perfectly controlled order, sawing with each downward stroke while moving with each return motion. It was an astonishingly clever use of fundamental components.”
Which leads us up to today’s puzzle. The task is you to reinvent one of the fundamental concepts behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts rotary motion to vertical motion. You have these components only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a tube or housing into which a single the rods will fit snugly. (Assume you can put things on a stand, so that the parts don’t collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time with the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) candidates as the world’s most impactful invention.
