Are You Able to Solve It? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Forged the Modern Globe
One can find many candidates for the title of “planet’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor should go to the automated sawmill invented by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be produced in less than seven days.”
Owing to their speedy mechanical cutter, that turned logs into boards using almost no manual labor, Dutch builders could construct vessels more quickly than any other nation, which sparked a century of Dutch naval, economic and artistic dominance in the continent and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, was “humanity’s initial true industrial machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part converted its circular motion into up-and-down action to power the saw. Another component changed that same rotary motion into a lateral motion feeding the timber to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward a measured step each stroke.
“Every component seemed simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to integrate these parts in order that they acted in a precisely synchronized order, cutting with each descending motion while moving with each upward motion. It was a remarkably clever use of fundamental parts.”
Which brings us to today’s challenge. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the fundamental ideas underpinning this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism which converts circular motion into vertical action. You have these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve through which one of the rods can slide snugly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the components don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the answer.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) contenders as the world’s greatest invention.
