Are You Able to Solve It? That Forgotten Netherlands Invention That Shaped our Modern World
There are many contenders for the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, though, that title should go to the automated sawmill conceived through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated approximately ten lumberjacks working over three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, an identical amount of cut lumber might be manufactured within seven days.”
Thanks to their speedy automated saw, that turned logs to boards using virtually no human effort, the Dutch were able to build vessels faster than anyone else, which sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic and cultural supremacy across Europe and the globe.
The Original True Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s initial true factory machine.” A wind turbine turned a gear. A single part converted the rotary movement into vertical action for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism changed the spinning movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the timber toward the blade. A ratchet system moved the wood forward a measured step each stroke.
“Every component was simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate them so the machine operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing on every descending motion while moving with each return stroke. This constituted a remarkably clever application of fundamental components.”
Which brings us up to the current puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the fundamental ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine that turns rotary movement into vertical action. Your available these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the bars will fit perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the parts do not collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK time featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) candidates for the world’s most impactful invention.
