Are You Able to Solve It? That Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Shaped the Contemporary Globe
One can find 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 belongs to a automated sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated around 10 lumberjacks laboring over three months,” writes the author. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, the same amount of cut lumber could be manufactured within seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid automated cutter, that turned logs to boards using almost no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to build ships more quickly than anyone else, which sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, financial as well as cultural dominance in Europe and the world.
The First True Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues Dávila, represented “mankind’s first authentic industrial apparatus.” A windmill rotated a gear. One component converted the circular motion to up-and-down action for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism changed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the log to the blade. A ratchet system moved the wood forward a measured step per stroke.
“Every component was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to combine these parts so the machine operated in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each downward motion while advancing on every upward stroke. It was a remarkably clever use of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the fundamental concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine which converts rotary motion to vertical action. You have these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or housing into which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a stand, so that the parts do not collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) contenders as the planet’s greatest invention.
