Are You Able to Crack This? The Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Forged the Contemporary Globe
There are many contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, however, that honor should go to the automated sawmill conceived through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, constructing a simple trading ship required around 10 sawyers laboring over 90 days,” notes the author. “With wind-powered lumber mills, the same amount of processed timber could be manufactured in less than a week.”
Thanks to this rapid automated cutter, that turned timber into boards using almost no manual labor, the Dutch were able to build ships faster compared to any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Netherlands naval, economic and cultural dominance in Europe and the globe.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues the writer, represented “mankind’s initial true industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part converted its circular motion to up-and-down action to power the cutting blade. Another component changed the rotary movement into a sideway’s movement advancing the timber to the blade. A ratchet system shifted the log forward a measured step each cycle.
“Every component seemed simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to integrate these parts in order that they acted within a perfectly controlled order, sawing on every descending stroke and moving with each upward stroke. It was a remarkably clever application of fundamental parts.”
Which brings us to the current challenge. I’d like you to reimagine one of the basic concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Design a machine that turns circular motion into vertical motion. You have these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a tube or sleeve into which a single the rods will fit perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a stand, so the parts don’t collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK with the answer.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to suggest (non obvious) contenders for the planet’s greatest invention.
