Can You Crack It? The Overlooked Netherlands Invention Which Shaped the Modern World
There are numerous candidates for the title of “planet’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a new book, though, that title should go to a mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, constructing a modest trading ship required approximately ten lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of cut lumber could be produced in less than seven days.”
Thanks to this rapid mechanical cutter, which turned timber into boards with almost no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct vessels more quickly compared to any other nation, an advantage that sparked a century of Dutch naval, financial and artistic supremacy in Europe and the world.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends Dávila, represented “humanity’s initial authentic factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part converted its rotary motion to up-and-down motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the rotary motion into a lateral movement feeding the timber toward the cutter. A ratchet system moved the log forward a measured step per stroke.
“Every component seemed simple by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to combine these parts in order that the machine operated within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every downward stroke and advancing on every upward motion. It was a remarkably clever application of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reimagine one of the basic ideas behind this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine that turns circular movement to up-and-down motion. You have these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a tube or sleeve through which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume you can put things on a stand, so the components don’t collapse.)
The solution returns later today UK featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to suggest (non obvious) candidates for the planet’s most impactful invention.
