Are You Able to Crack This? The Overlooked Netherlands Invention That Shaped the Modern Globe
One can find numerous candidates for the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor belongs to the mechanised timber mill invented through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, constructing a simple merchant vessel required around ten sawyers laboring over three months,” notes the author. “With wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of cut lumber could be manufactured within seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid automated saw, that turned logs to boards with almost no manual labor, Dutch builders could construct ships faster compared to any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, financial as well as artistic supremacy in the continent and the globe.
The Original True Industrial Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “mankind’s first true factory machine.” A windmill rotated a wheel. A single part transformed its rotary movement into vertical motion for the saw. A separate mechanism changed the spinning motion into a lateral movement feeding the timber to the blade. A ratchet system shifted the log ahead a measured step per stroke.
“Each element seemed simple on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine them so they operated within a precisely synchronized order, sawing with each downward stroke and moving with each upward motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent application of basic components.”
A fact that brings us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reimagine one of the fundamental concepts underpinning this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism which converts circular motion to vertical action. You have these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a tube or sleeve into which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Consider that you can mount components on a base, so the components don’t fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK with the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to suggest (non obvious) contenders for the world’s most impactful creation.
