Can You Solve This? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Shaped our Modern World
There are numerous candidates for the title of “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, though, that title should go to a mechanised timber mill conceived by Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, constructing a simple trading ship required approximately ten sawyers working over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of processed timber could be produced within seven days.”
Owing to this speedy automated saw, that converted timber into boards using almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct ships faster than any other nation, which sparked one hundred years of Netherlands maritime, financial as well as artistic supremacy across the continent and the globe.
The First True Industrial Machine
The inventor's lumber mill, contends the writer, was “mankind’s first true industrial machine.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. One component converted the circular motion to up-and-down action for the saw. A separate mechanism transformed that same rotary movement into a lateral movement advancing the log to the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the wood ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Each element was simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to integrate them so the machine acted in a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting with each downward stroke while moving with each upward stroke. It was an astonishingly intelligent use of basic components.”
Which brings us to the current challenge. The task is for you to reimagine one of the fundamental concepts underpinning this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism that turns circular movement into up-and-down action. Your available these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which one of the bars will fit snugly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the parts do not collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time featuring the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (less celebrated) contenders for the planet’s greatest creation.
