Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Creation That Shaped the Modern World
One can find numerous candidates to claim the title of “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, though, that title belongs to a mechanised sawmill invented through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before automated cutting, constructing a modest merchant vessel required approximately ten lumberjacks laboring for three months,” writes the author. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, the same amount of processed timber could be produced within a week.”
Owing to this rapid automated saw, which converted timber to planks using almost no human effort, Dutch builders could construct ships faster than anyone else, an advantage that unleashed a century of Netherlands maritime, economic as well as artistic dominance across Europe and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, was “humanity’s first true factory machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. A single part converted the rotary movement to vertical action to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed the spinning motion into a lateral motion feeding the timber toward the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the log forward a measured step per cycle.
“Each element seemed simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to integrate them in order that the machine acted in a perfectly controlled order, sawing on every descending motion and moving on every return motion. It was a remarkably clever application of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us up to the current puzzle. The task is for you to reimagine a key the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism that turns rotary motion to vertical motion. You have these components only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or housing through which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the parts don’t collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the planet’s greatest creation.
