Can You Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Creation That Forged the Modern World
There are numerous contenders for the title of “planet’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
As per a new book, however, that honor belongs to the mechanised timber mill invented by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, building a simple trading ship necessitated approximately 10 sawyers working over three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven sawmills, the same amount of cut lumber might be manufactured within a week.”
Owing to their rapid automated cutter, that turned logs to boards with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels more quickly than anyone else, which unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, economic as well as artistic supremacy in the continent and the globe.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's lumber mill, argues Dávila, was “humanity’s initial true industrial machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. One component transformed its rotary movement to up-and-down motion for the saw. Another component changed the spinning motion into a sideway’s motion advancing the timber to the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward one precise increment per stroke.
“Each element seemed modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to combine them in order that the machine operated within a perfectly controlled order, cutting on every descending motion while moving with each upward motion. This constituted a remarkably clever application of basic parts.”
A fact that leads us to today’s challenge. The task is you to reinvent one of the basic concepts behind this historic machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism that turns circular motion to vertical motion. You have these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or housing through which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Assume you can put things on a stand, so the components don’t collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) contenders as the world’s most impactful invention.
