Are You Able to Crack This? That Overlooked Dutch Invention That Forged our Modern Globe
There are many candidates to claim the designation as “world’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a new book, however, that title should go to a mechanised timber mill invented through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated approximately ten lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, the same quantity of cut lumber might be produced in less than a week.”
Thanks to their rapid mechanical saw, that converted logs into boards with almost no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct ships more quickly than any other nation, which sparked a century of Dutch naval, financial and cultural dominance in Europe and the world.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends Dávila, was “humanity’s initial authentic factory machine.” A windmill rotated a gear. One component transformed the circular movement to vertical action to power the cutting blade. Another component transformed that same rotary movement into a sideway’s movement feeding the log toward the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the wood forward a measured step per cycle.
“Every component seemed simple on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine these parts so they operated within a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting on every downward motion while advancing with each return motion. This constituted a remarkably clever use of fundamental parts.”
Which leads us up to the current puzzle. The task is you to reinvent a key the basic concepts behind this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism that turns circular movement to vertical action. You have these items only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so the parts do not collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to propose (non obvious) candidates as the world’s greatest invention.
