Are You Able to Crack It? That Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Forged our Contemporary World
There are many candidates for the designation as “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
According to a new book, however, that title belongs to the mechanised timber mill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven lumber mills, the same quantity of processed timber could be manufactured within a week.”
Owing to their speedy mechanical saw, that turned timber to boards using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders could build vessels faster than any other nation, an advantage that sparked a century of Netherlands maritime, financial and cultural dominance across the continent and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's sawmill, argues Dávila, represented “mankind’s first true industrial machine.” A windmill rotated a wheel. A single part transformed its rotary movement into vertical action to power the cutting blade. Another component transformed that same spinning motion into a lateral movement advancing the log to the blade. A ratchet system shifted the log ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Each element was simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to combine these parts so the machine operated within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting with each downward motion and moving with each upward motion. This constituted a remarkably clever application of basic parts.”
A fact that leads us to the current challenge. The task is you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a machine that turns circular motion to up-and-down action. You have these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or housing through which one of the rods can slide snugly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a base, so the parts do not fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK with the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) contenders for the world’s most impactful invention.
