Can You Solve This? That Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Forged our Contemporary World
There are numerous contenders for the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a new book, though, that honor should go to the mechanised sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated around ten lumberjacks laboring for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same quantity of processed timber might be manufactured within seven days.”
Owing to this rapid mechanical cutter, that turned logs to boards using virtually no manual labor, the Dutch could build vessels faster compared to any other nation, which unleashed one hundred years of Dutch maritime, financial and artistic supremacy across Europe and the globe.
The First True Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues the writer, represented “humanity’s first true industrial machine.” A wind turbine turned a gear. One component converted the rotary movement into vertical motion for the cutting blade. Another component changed that same spinning movement into a lateral motion feeding the timber toward the blade. A geared mechanism moved the log ahead one precise increment each stroke.
“Each element seemed simple on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate them so the machine acted within a perfectly controlled order, cutting on every downward stroke while moving with each upward motion. This constituted a remarkably clever use of basic components.”
Which brings us up to the current challenge. I’d like you to reimagine a key the basic ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine that turns rotary movement to vertical action. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or housing through which a single the rods will fit snugly. (Assume you can put things on a stand, so the components do not collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s greatest creation.
