Are You Able to Crack It? That Forgotten Netherlands Invention That Forged the Contemporary Globe
There are many contenders to claim the title of “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, though, that honor belongs to a automated sawmill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised cutting, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated around 10 lumberjacks laboring for three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, the same amount of cut lumber could be produced in less than a week.”
Owing to their rapid mechanical cutter, which converted timber into planks using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders could build ships more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, economic as well as cultural dominance across Europe and the world.
The First Genuine Industrial Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s initial authentic industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a gear. One component converted its rotary motion into up-and-down motion for the saw. A separate mechanism changed the spinning motion into a sideway’s movement advancing the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the log forward a measured step each cycle.
“Each element seemed modest by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine them in order that they operated within a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each descending stroke while advancing on every upward motion. This constituted an astonishingly clever use of basic components.”
A fact that brings us up to today’s challenge. I’d like for you to reimagine one of the fundamental concepts underpinning this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine that turns circular motion into up-and-down motion. You have these components only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve into which a single the rods will fit snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a stand, so that the components do not fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) candidates for the world’s most impactful invention.
