Are You Able to Crack It? The Forgotten Dutch Invention Which Shaped our Modern World
One can find many candidates for the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
As per a recent publication, however, that honor should go to the mechanised sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, building a simple trading ship necessitated around ten sawyers working for three months,” writes the author. “With wind-powered lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than a week.”
Thanks to this speedy automated saw, which converted logs to planks using almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build ships faster compared to any other nation, which unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, financial as well as artistic dominance across the continent and the world.
The Original True Industrial Device
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues Dávila, represented “humanity’s initial true industrial machine.” A windmill rotated a wheel. One component transformed the rotary motion to up-and-down motion for the saw. A separate mechanism changed the rotary movement into a sideway’s motion feeding the log toward the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the wood forward one precise increment per stroke.
“Every component seemed modest by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine them in order that they acted within a precisely synchronized order, cutting on every descending motion and moving on every upward motion. It was a remarkably intelligent application of basic components.”
A fact that brings us to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reimagine one of the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Construct a mechanism which converts circular motion into vertical action. You have these items exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or housing through which one of the bars can slide snugly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a base, so the components don’t collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK with the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (less celebrated) candidates as the world’s most impactful invention.