Are You Able to Solve It? The Overlooked Dutch Invention That Shaped our Modern World
There are numerous contenders for the title of “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a new book, however, that honor belongs to the mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before automated cutting, constructing a modest merchant vessel necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven sawmills, the same amount of processed timber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Owing to their rapid mechanical cutter, that turned logs to planks with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly compared to anyone else, which sparked a century of Netherlands maritime, economic and artistic supremacy across Europe and the globe.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s first true factory apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. One component transformed its rotary motion to up-and-down action for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning motion into a sideway’s movement advancing the timber toward the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward one precise increment each cycle.
“Every component was modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to integrate them in order that the machine acted in a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing with each downward motion while advancing with each upward motion. It was a remarkably clever application of fundamental parts.”
A fact that leads us to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent one of the basic concepts underpinning this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism which converts circular motion to vertical action. You have these components only: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a tube or sleeve into which one of the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the components do not fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK with the answer.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) contenders for the world’s greatest creation.
