Can You Solve This? The Forgotten Dutch Invention Which Shaped the Contemporary Globe
One can find numerous candidates for the title of “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that honor should go to the mechanised sawmill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated around ten lumberjacks working over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, an identical amount of cut lumber might be produced in less than seven days.”
Owing to their speedy mechanical saw, that converted timber into boards using virtually no manual labor, the Dutch were able to build ships more quickly compared to anyone else, which unleashed one hundred years of Dutch maritime, financial and artistic dominance in Europe and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, represented “humanity’s initial authentic factory machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. A single part transformed its rotary motion into up-and-down motion for the saw. Another component transformed that same rotary motion into a lateral motion feeding the log toward the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the wood ahead one precise increment per stroke.
“Each element was modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine these parts so the machine acted in a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every descending stroke while advancing with each return stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent use of fundamental components.”
Which brings us up to the current challenge. The task is you to reinvent a key the basic concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns circular motion to vertical action. Your available these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Consider that you can mount components on a base, so the parts do not fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK featuring the answer.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) contenders for the world’s greatest creation.
