Can You Crack This? The Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Forged our Modern Globe
One can find numerous candidates to claim the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, however, that title should go to the automated timber mill invented by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a simple trading ship required around ten sawyers working over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of cut lumber might be produced in less than seven days.”
Thanks to this speedy mechanical cutter, which converted logs to boards using almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build ships faster compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic as well as artistic supremacy in Europe and the globe.
The First True Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, was “humanity’s initial true factory machine.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part converted the circular movement into vertical action for the cutting blade. Another component transformed that same rotary movement into a sideway’s movement feeding the log toward the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the log forward a measured step each cycle.
“Each element seemed modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine these parts so they operated in a perfectly controlled order, sawing on every descending motion while moving with each upward motion. This constituted an astonishingly clever use of basic parts.”
A fact that brings us to today’s puzzle. The task is you to reinvent a key the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Construct a mechanism which converts circular motion to up-and-down motion. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or housing through which one of the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so the components do not collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to propose (non obvious) candidates for the planet’s most impactful invention.