Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Invention That Shaped the Modern World
There are many contenders for the designation as “planet’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, though, that title belongs to a mechanised sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, constructing a modest trading ship required approximately ten sawyers working over three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured within seven days.”
Owing to this speedy automated cutter, that converted timber into boards with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build ships faster than any other nation, which unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, economic and cultural supremacy across the continent and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's sawmill, argues Dávila, was “mankind’s first true factory machine.” A windmill rotated a wheel. A single part transformed its rotary motion into vertical motion for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Each element seemed simple by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine these parts in order that they operated within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting on every downward stroke while advancing on every upward motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent use of basic parts.”
A fact that leads us to today’s challenge. The task is for you to reinvent a key the basic ideas underpinning Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine that turns rotary movement to vertical motion. Your available these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or sleeve into which a single the rods can slide perfectly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the parts don’t fall down.)
The solution returns later today UK with the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please propose (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s greatest creation.