Can You Solve This? That Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Forged the Contemporary World
One can find numerous contenders to claim the title of “planet’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, however, that title belongs to a automated sawmill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a simple trading ship necessitated around 10 sawyers laboring over 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, an identical amount of cut lumber might be manufactured within a week.”
Thanks to their speedy mechanical cutter, which converted timber into boards using virtually no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct vessels more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Dutch maritime, financial and artistic supremacy across the continent and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's sawmill, contends Dávila, was “humanity’s first true factory machine.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part transformed the rotary motion to vertical motion for the cutting blade. Another component transformed the spinning motion into a lateral motion advancing the timber toward the blade. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Each element seemed modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to integrate these parts so they acted within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing with each downward motion and advancing with each upward motion. It was an astonishingly clever use of basic components.”
Which leads us up to today’s puzzle. The task is you to reimagine a key the basic ideas underpinning this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism that turns circular movement to vertical action. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the bars can slide perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a stand, so the components don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates as the world’s greatest creation.