Can You Crack It? The Forgotten Netherlands Invention That Forged our Contemporary World
There are many contenders for the designation as “planet’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, though, that honor should go to a mechanised sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, building a simple trading ship necessitated around 10 sawyers working over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, the same amount of cut lumber might be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to this rapid automated saw, that turned logs into planks with almost no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels faster than anyone else, which unleashed one hundred years of Dutch maritime, economic as well as cultural dominance across the continent and the world.
The First True Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends the writer, represented “mankind’s initial authentic factory apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a gear. A single part converted the rotary movement to vertical motion to power the cutting blade. A separate mechanism changed that same rotary motion into a sideway’s movement advancing the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood ahead one precise increment each stroke.
“Each element was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate them in order that they operated in a perfectly controlled order, sawing on every downward stroke and moving on every upward stroke. This constituted an astonishingly clever application of fundamental parts.”
A fact that leads us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reinvent a key the basic ideas behind this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism which converts circular movement into up-and-down motion. You have these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the rods can slide perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a base, so the parts do not fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK time with the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) candidates as the world’s most impactful invention.
