Can You Crack This? That Overlooked Dutch Invention That Forged the Modern World
There are many contenders for the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, though, that honor should go to a mechanised timber mill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before automated sawing, building a modest trading ship necessitated around ten sawyers laboring over three months,” notes the author. “Using wind-driven sawmills, the same quantity of cut lumber could be produced in less than a week.”
Thanks to this rapid mechanical cutter, which converted timber into planks with almost no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels faster than any other nation, which unleashed one hundred years of Netherlands naval, economic and cultural supremacy across the continent and the globe.
The Original True Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues Dávila, represented “mankind’s initial true factory apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. One component converted the rotary movement to up-and-down action to power the saw. Another component transformed the spinning motion into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber toward the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log forward one precise increment per stroke.
“Each element was modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate these parts in order that they acted in a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing with each downward motion and moving with each upward motion. It was a remarkably intelligent use of basic components.”
Which leads us to the current challenge. The task is you to reimagine one of the basic concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Construct a machine which converts rotary motion into vertical action. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the rods will fit perfectly. (Consider that you can put things on a base, so that the components don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time with the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the planet’s most impactful invention.
