Are You Able to Crack It? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Shaped our Contemporary World
There are many contenders for the title of “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, however, that honor should go to the automated sawmill invented by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated approximately ten lumberjacks laboring for 90 days,” notes the author. “With wind-powered sawmills, the same quantity of processed timber might be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to their rapid automated cutter, which converted logs into boards with almost no manual labor, Dutch builders could construct vessels more quickly compared to anyone else, which sparked a century of Dutch maritime, economic as well as cultural supremacy in Europe and the world.
The First True Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues Dávila, was “mankind’s initial true industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. One component converted its rotary movement into up-and-down action for the cutting blade. Another component transformed the rotary motion into a sideway’s motion advancing the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the log ahead one precise increment per cycle.
“Every component was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to combine these parts so the machine operated in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each downward motion while moving with each upward stroke. It was an astonishingly clever use of basic components.”
Which leads us to the current challenge. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the basic concepts underpinning this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism which converts rotary motion to up-and-down action. Your available these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a tube or sleeve into which a single the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the components do not collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time with the solution.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please suggest (less celebrated) contenders as the planet’s most impactful invention.
