Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Invention That Shaped our Modern World
There are numerous contenders to claim the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, though, that title should go to the mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, building a simple merchant vessel required around ten lumberjacks laboring for three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, the same quantity of processed timber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid automated saw, which converted timber to planks with virtually no human effort, Dutch builders could build vessels more quickly than anyone else, an advantage that unleashed a century of Dutch maritime, economic and cultural dominance in Europe and the globe.
The Original True Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “mankind’s first true industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. One component converted the rotary movement to vertical action for the cutting blade. Another component transformed the spinning motion into a sideway’s motion feeding the log to the blade. A ratchet system moved the wood forward one precise increment per cycle.
“Every component seemed simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate these parts so they acted within a perfectly controlled order, sawing with each downward stroke while moving with each return stroke. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of fundamental parts.”
Which leads us to today’s challenge. The task is for you to reinvent one of the basic concepts underpinning this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine which converts rotary motion into vertical motion. You have these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which a single the bars can slide snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a stand, so the components don’t collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time with the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) candidates as the world’s most impactful creation.
