Are You Able to Crack This? That Overlooked Dutch Invention Which Forged our Contemporary Globe
One can find numerous contenders to claim the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, however, that title belongs to a automated timber mill conceived by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a modest merchant vessel required around ten sawyers laboring over 90 days,” notes the author. “With wind-powered sawmills, an identical quantity of processed timber could be manufactured within seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid mechanical saw, which converted timber into planks using virtually no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct vessels faster than any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Netherlands maritime, economic and artistic dominance across the continent and the globe.
The First True Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, was “humanity’s first true industrial machine.” A windmill rotated a wheel. A single part transformed the circular movement into vertical action for the cutting blade. Another component transformed the rotary motion into a lateral movement feeding the log toward the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Every component seemed modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius was to combine them in order that the machine operated within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting on every descending motion and moving with each upward motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent use of basic parts.”
Which leads us to today’s puzzle. The task is for you to reimagine a key the fundamental ideas behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism that turns circular motion to up-and-down action. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or housing into which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Assume you can put things on a base, so the parts don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) candidates for the world’s greatest creation.
