Can You Solve It? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation That Forged our Modern Globe
There are numerous contenders to claim the title of “planet’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.
According to a new book, though, that honor belongs to the automated timber mill invented by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.
“Before automated cutting, building a modest trading ship necessitated approximately ten sawyers laboring over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be produced within a week.”
Owing to this speedy mechanical saw, that turned logs into boards using almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct ships more quickly compared to anyone else, which unleashed a century of Dutch maritime, economic as well as artistic supremacy in Europe and the world.
The Original True Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s initial true factory machine.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. A single part transformed the circular movement to vertical action for the cutting blade. Another component changed that same rotary motion into a sideway’s motion feeding the log to the blade. A ratchet system shifted the log forward one precise increment per cycle.
“Every component was modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to combine these parts in order that they acted in a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting with each downward motion and moving with each return stroke. It was an astonishingly clever application of fundamental parts.”
Which brings us to the current puzzle. The task is you to reimagine one of the basic concepts behind this historic invention.
Round and Up
Design a mechanism which converts rotary movement into vertical motion. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve into which one of the rods can slide snugly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a base, so the parts don’t collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Rather, please suggest (non obvious) candidates for the world’s most impactful invention.
