Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Invention Which Shaped our Modern Globe
One can find many candidates to claim the title of “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a new book, however, that title belongs to a automated timber mill conceived through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, constructing a modest trading ship required approximately 10 lumberjacks working over 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, an identical amount of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than a week.”
Thanks to this rapid automated saw, that converted logs into planks using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct ships faster compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Netherlands naval, financial as well as artistic supremacy across the continent and the world.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's sawmill, argues the writer, represented “humanity’s initial authentic factory apparatus.” A windmill rotated a wheel. One component converted the circular motion to vertical action for the cutting blade. Another component transformed the spinning movement into a lateral movement advancing the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the log ahead a measured step per stroke.
“Each element was modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate these parts in order that the machine acted within a precisely synchronized order, cutting with each downward motion while advancing on every return stroke. It was an astonishingly intelligent use of basic components.”
Which leads us up to today’s challenge. The task is for you to reimagine one of the basic concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine that turns circular motion into up-and-down motion. Your available these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a tube or sleeve into which one of the bars can slide perfectly. (Assume you can mount components on a stand, so that the components don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the solution.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please suggest (less celebrated) contenders for the planet’s most impactful creation.
