Can You Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Invention Which Forged our Modern Globe
One can find many candidates for the designation as “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, however, that title should go to the automated sawmill conceived through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Prior to mechanised sawing, building a simple trading ship necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical amount of processed timber could be produced in less than seven days.”
Thanks to their speedy mechanical cutter, which converted timber into planks using almost no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct vessels more quickly than anyone else, which sparked one hundred years of Dutch maritime, financial and cultural dominance in the continent and the world.
The First Genuine Industrial Machine
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, was “mankind’s initial true factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part transformed its circular motion into up-and-down action to power the saw. Another component changed that same spinning movement into a lateral motion advancing the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood ahead a measured step each cycle.
“Each element seemed modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to integrate them so they operated in a perfectly controlled order, sawing on every descending motion while advancing on every return motion. It was a remarkably clever use of basic components.”
A fact that leads us up to today’s challenge. I’d like you to reinvent one of the basic ideas behind this historic machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism that turns circular movement to vertical action. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, that is a tube or housing through which one of the rods will fit snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so the components don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the answer.
In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) contenders for the world’s most impactful invention.
