Can You Crack It? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Shaped our Modern World
One can find numerous contenders for the designation as “planet’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.
As per a new book, though, that title belongs to the mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutchman Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.
“Before automated sawing, constructing a modest merchant vessel necessitated around ten sawyers working over three months,” writes the author. “Using wind-powered sawmills, an identical amount of cut lumber might be produced within seven days.”
Owing to this rapid mechanical saw, which converted timber to boards with virtually no human effort, Dutch builders could build ships more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Netherlands maritime, economic and cultural supremacy in the continent and the world.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Device
Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends the writer, was “humanity’s first true factory apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part converted its rotary movement into vertical motion for the cutting blade. Another component changed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber toward the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log forward one precise increment each stroke.
“Each element seemed simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine them in order that they operated within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every downward motion while advancing on every upward stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent application of basic components.”
Which brings us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reimagine one of the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism which converts rotary motion into vertical motion. You have these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or housing into which a single the rods can slide snugly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so that the components don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) contenders for the planet’s greatest creation.
