Are You Able to Crack It? The Forgotten Dutch Invention Which Shaped the Contemporary Globe
There are many candidates to claim the title of “world’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a new book, though, that title should go to a automated sawmill conceived by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before automated cutting, constructing a simple merchant vessel necessitated around ten sawyers working for three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be produced within seven days.”
Thanks to their speedy automated cutter, which converted timber to boards with almost no human effort, the Dutch could build vessels faster than anyone else, an advantage that sparked a century of Netherlands maritime, economic as well as artistic supremacy in the continent and the world.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends Dávila, was “mankind’s initial authentic factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. One component transformed its rotary motion to up-and-down action to power the saw. Another component changed that same spinning motion into a lateral movement feeding the log to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood forward one precise increment per cycle.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate them so the machine acted in a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting on every downward stroke while moving on every upward motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent application of fundamental components.”
Which brings us to the current challenge. I’d like you to reimagine one of the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism which converts rotary movement into vertical action. You have these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a tube or sleeve through which one of the bars will fit snugly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so the components do not collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time with the answer.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates as the world’s greatest creation.
