Are You Able to Crack It? That Forgotten Netherlands Invention That Shaped the Modern Globe
There are numerous candidates for the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The movable type. The combustion motor.
As per a recent publication, however, that title belongs to the mechanised sawmill invented by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Before automated sawing, building a simple trading ship required around ten sawyers working over 90 days,” writes the author. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, the same quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured in less than seven days.”
Thanks to this speedy automated saw, which turned timber to planks using almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels faster than anyone else, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic as well as cultural dominance in the continent and the globe.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's sawmill, contends Dávila, was “mankind’s initial authentic factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. One component converted its circular motion into vertical action for the cutting blade. Another component changed the spinning motion into a lateral movement feeding the log to the blade. A ratchet system moved the wood ahead a measured step each stroke.
“Each element seemed modest by itself. The Dutchman’s genius was to combine these parts so the machine operated in a precisely synchronized order, sawing with each downward motion while moving on every return motion. This constituted an astonishingly intelligent application of fundamental components.”
A fact that leads us up to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reimagine a key the fundamental ideas behind this historic invention.
Round and Up
Construct a machine that turns rotary motion into vertical action. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a tube or housing through which a single the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume you can put things on a stand, so that the parts do not collapse.)
I’ll be back at 5pm UK time with the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to propose (non obvious) candidates for the world’s greatest invention.