Can You Crack It? The Forgotten Dutch Invention Which Shaped our Modern World
There are numerous candidates for the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a recent publication, though, that title belongs to the automated sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before automated cutting, constructing a simple trading ship necessitated approximately ten sawyers working over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of cut lumber could be produced within a week.”
Owing to their rapid automated cutter, that converted logs to planks using almost no human effort, the Dutch could build ships faster than any other nation, an advantage that sparked a century of Dutch naval, economic as well as artistic dominance in the continent and the world.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues the writer, represented “mankind’s initial true factory apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. One component converted its rotary motion to vertical action to power the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning motion into a sideway’s movement feeding the timber toward the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the wood ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Each element seemed simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate these parts in order that the machine acted within a precisely synchronized order, sawing with each downward stroke while advancing with each return stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent use of fundamental parts.”
A fact that leads us to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Construct a mechanism which converts rotary motion to vertical motion. Your available these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which a single the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume you can put things on a base, so that the components don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK featuring the solution.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) contenders as the planet’s greatest invention.
