Can You Solve It? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Shaped our Modern World
There are numerous contenders to claim the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that honor should go to a mechanised timber mill invented by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, building a simple merchant vessel required around 10 sawyers laboring over three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of cut lumber might be manufactured in less than a week.”
Thanks to this speedy mechanical cutter, that converted logs to boards with virtually no manual labor, the Dutch were able to construct vessels more quickly than any other nation, which sparked one hundred years of Netherlands maritime, economic as well as cultural dominance across Europe and the globe.
The Original Genuine Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, represented “mankind’s first authentic factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. A single part transformed the rotary motion to vertical action to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed the spinning motion into a sideway’s movement advancing the log toward the blade. A ratchet system moved the wood forward a measured step per cycle.
“Every component was simple on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to combine them so the machine acted in a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting with each downward motion while moving on every return stroke. It was an astonishingly clever application of basic components.”
Which leads us to the current puzzle. The task is for you to reimagine one of the basic concepts underpinning this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism which converts circular motion to vertical action. Your available these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or housing into which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the components don’t fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (less celebrated) candidates as the world’s most impactful creation.
