Can You Solve This? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Forged the Contemporary World
There are many candidates for the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, though, that title should go to a mechanised timber mill invented through Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Before mechanised sawing, building a modest merchant vessel necessitated around ten sawyers laboring over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, an identical quantity of processed timber might be produced in less than seven days.”
Thanks to their speedy automated cutter, that converted logs into planks with virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels more quickly than anyone else, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Netherlands naval, economic as well as artistic dominance across Europe and the globe.
The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine
The inventor's lumber mill, contends the writer, was “mankind’s initial true industrial machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. A single part transformed its rotary movement to up-and-down motion to power the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning motion into a lateral movement advancing the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log ahead a measured step per cycle.
“Every component was modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance lay in how to combine these parts so the machine acted in a precisely synchronized order, sawing on every downward motion while moving with each upward stroke. It was a remarkably clever application of basic components.”
Which brings us up to the current puzzle. I’d like you to reinvent one of the basic concepts behind this historic invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a machine which converts circular movement into vertical action. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a tube or sleeve into which one of the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume you can mount components on a base, so the parts do not fall down.)
I’ll be back later today UK with the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) contenders for the world’s greatest invention.
