Can You Solve It? That Forgotten Dutch Invention Which Forged our Contemporary Globe
There are many candidates for the designation as “planet’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a recent publication, though, that honor should go to a mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, building a modest trading ship necessitated approximately 10 sawyers working over three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be produced in less than seven days.”
Thanks to their speedy automated saw, which turned timber into planks using almost no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct ships faster than anyone else, an advantage that sparked a century of Dutch maritime, economic as well as artistic dominance in Europe and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's sawmill, argues the writer, was “humanity’s first true industrial apparatus.” A windmill rotated a wheel. A single part converted the rotary motion into vertical action for the saw. Another component changed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber toward the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood ahead a measured step each stroke.
“Each element was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine these parts so the machine acted within a perfectly controlled order, sawing with each descending motion and moving on every return stroke. It was an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental components.”
Which leads us up to today’s challenge. The task is for you to reinvent one of the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns circular motion to up-and-down action. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a tube or housing into which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a base, so the parts do not collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to propose (less celebrated) candidates for the planet’s most impactful creation.
