Are You Able to Crack This? That Overlooked Netherlands Creation Which Forged the Contemporary Globe
One can find numerous candidates to claim the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a new book, however, that honor belongs to the mechanised timber mill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Prior to automated sawing, constructing a simple merchant vessel necessitated around 10 lumberjacks working over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, an identical quantity of processed timber might be manufactured within a week.”
Owing to their speedy automated cutter, which turned logs to planks with almost no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to build ships faster compared to anyone else, which sparked a century of Netherlands naval, financial and artistic supremacy across the continent and the world.
The First True Industrial Machine
The inventor's sawmill, argues the writer, represented “mankind’s initial authentic factory machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part converted the circular motion into vertical action for the saw. Another component transformed that same spinning motion into a sideway’s movement advancing the log toward the blade. A geared mechanism shifted the wood forward one precise increment per stroke.
“Each element was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate these parts in order that they acted within a perfectly controlled order, sawing on every downward motion while advancing with each upward stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent use of basic parts.”
A fact that brings us to today’s challenge. The task is for you to reinvent a key the basic concepts behind Corneliszoon’s machine.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts rotary movement to 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 rods will fit snugly. (Consider that you can put things on a base, so that the components don’t collapse.)
I’ll be back later today UK time with the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, feel free to propose (less celebrated) contenders as the planet’s greatest creation.
