Can You Solve This? That Overlooked Dutch Creation That Forged the Contemporary World
There are many contenders for the title of “planet’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.
According to a recent publication, however, that title belongs to the automated sawmill invented through Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Prior to automated cutting, building a simple trading ship required approximately ten sawyers working over 90 days,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same amount of cut lumber might be produced in less than a week.”
Owing to their rapid mechanical saw, which turned logs to planks using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build ships faster than anyone else, an advantage that sparked a century of Netherlands naval, financial as well as artistic dominance in Europe and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Machine
Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends Dávila, was “mankind’s initial true industrial machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. One component transformed its circular motion into up-and-down motion for the saw. A separate mechanism changed the rotary motion into a sideway’s motion feeding the log to the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the wood ahead one precise increment each stroke.
“Every component was simple on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to integrate these parts in order that the machine acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each downward stroke while moving on every return motion. This constituted a remarkably clever use of basic components.”
A fact that leads us to today’s puzzle. The task is you to reinvent a key the basic concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Construct a mechanism that turns rotary motion to vertical motion. Your available these components only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve through which a single the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the parts do not collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please propose (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s greatest creation.
