Are You Able to Crack It? The Forgotten Dutch Invention That Forged our Modern Globe
There are numerous candidates for the designation as “planet’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a new book, though, that title belongs to a automated timber mill conceived through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before automated sawing, constructing a simple merchant vessel necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over three months,” notes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, the same amount of processed timber could be produced within seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid mechanical cutter, which turned timber to planks using almost no human effort, the Dutch could construct vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, economic and artistic supremacy in the continent and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues Dávila, represented “humanity’s first true factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a wheel. One component converted the rotary movement into vertical action to power the cutting blade. Another component changed that same rotary movement into a lateral movement advancing the timber toward the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the log ahead a measured step each stroke.
“Each element was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to combine these parts so the machine operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting with each descending motion and moving on every return stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent application of basic components.”
Which leads us up to the current challenge. The task is for you to reinvent one of the basic ideas underpinning this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism which converts rotary motion into vertical action. You have these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so that the parts don’t collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) contenders as the planet’s most impactful creation.
