Can You Crack This? That Forgotten Dutch Invention That Forged the Modern Globe
One can find numerous candidates for the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a new book, though, that honor should go to the mechanised sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, building a simple merchant vessel necessitated around 10 lumberjacks laboring over three months,” notes the author. “With wind-powered lumber mills, an identical amount of processed timber could be manufactured within seven days.”
Thanks to their rapid automated saw, that turned timber into boards using almost no manual labor, Dutch builders could construct ships more quickly than anyone else, which sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, financial and cultural supremacy across Europe and the globe.
The First True Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s first true factory machine.” A windmill rotated a wheel. One component converted the circular motion into up-and-down motion for the saw. Another component transformed that same rotary motion into a lateral movement feeding the timber to the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the wood forward one precise increment per cycle.
“Every component seemed modest on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to combine these parts in order that the machine acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting on every descending motion while advancing on every return motion. It was a remarkably intelligent use of fundamental components.”
A fact that brings us to the current challenge. The task is for you to reinvent one of the basic ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns rotary movement to up-and-down action. You have these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or housing into which a single the bars will fit snugly. (Consider that you can mount components on a base, so the components don’t fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the solution.
In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the world’s most impactful creation.
