Can You Crack It? The Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Shaped our Modern Globe
There are many contenders for the designation as “planet’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, however, that honor belongs to the mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated approximately 10 sawyers laboring for three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of processed timber could be manufactured within a week.”
Thanks to their speedy mechanical saw, that turned timber into planks with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct ships faster than anyone else, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch maritime, financial and artistic dominance in Europe and the globe.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Device
The inventor's sawmill, contends Dávila, represented “humanity’s first authentic industrial apparatus.” A windmill rotated a wheel. One component transformed its rotary motion into up-and-down motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed the spinning motion into a lateral movement advancing the timber to the blade. A ratchet system shifted the wood forward a measured step per cycle.
“Each element was simple on its own. The Dutchman’s genius was to integrate them in order that the machine acted in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each downward motion and moving on every return motion. It was a remarkably intelligent use of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us to today’s challenge. The task is you to reimagine one of the fundamental ideas underpinning this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism which converts rotary movement into vertical action. You have these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve through which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a stand, so the components do not collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK with the solution.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) contenders for the world’s most impactful creation.
