Can You Crack It? The Forgotten Dutch Creation That Forged our Modern Globe
One can find numerous contenders to claim the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, though, that honor should go to the automated sawmill invented through Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, constructing a simple merchant vessel required approximately 10 sawyers working over three months,” notes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of cut lumber could be produced within seven days.”
Thanks to their speedy mechanical saw, which converted timber to planks using virtually no human effort, the Dutch could construct vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch maritime, economic as well as cultural dominance in the continent and the world.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's sawmill, argues Dávila, represented “mankind’s first true industrial apparatus.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part transformed the rotary motion into up-and-down action to power the saw. Another component changed that same spinning movement into a lateral movement feeding the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log ahead one precise increment per cycle.
“Every component was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate them so the machine operated in a perfectly controlled order, sawing on every downward motion and advancing with each return motion. It was a remarkably clever application of basic components.”
Which brings us up to today’s challenge. I’d like for you to reimagine one of the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns rotary movement into vertical action. Your available these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or housing into which a single the rods will fit snugly. (Assume you can put things on a base, so that the components don’t fall down.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) candidates for the world’s greatest creation.
