Can You Crack This? The Forgotten Dutch Invention Which Shaped the Contemporary World
There are numerous candidates for the designation as “planet’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, though, that honor should go to the mechanised timber mill conceived by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, constructing a simple merchant vessel required around 10 lumberjacks laboring over three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven sawmills, an identical quantity of processed timber could be produced within a week.”
Owing to their rapid mechanical saw, which converted timber into planks using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels faster compared to any other nation, which sparked a century of Dutch naval, financial as well as cultural supremacy in Europe and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues the writer, represented “humanity’s initial true industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. A single part converted the circular motion into vertical motion to power the cutting blade. Another component changed that same rotary motion into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log ahead one precise increment each cycle.
“Every component was modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate them so they operated in a precisely synchronized order, sawing with each downward motion while advancing on every upward motion. It was an astonishingly clever application of basic parts.”
Which brings us to the current challenge. I’d like you to reinvent one of the basic concepts behind this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism which converts rotary motion to vertical motion. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or housing into which a single the bars can slide perfectly. (Consider that you can mount components on a stand, so that the parts do not collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) contenders as the world’s most impactful creation.
