Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Invention Which Shaped the Contemporary World

One can find many contenders for the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.

As per a new book, though, that title should go to a mechanised timber mill conceived through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.

“Before mechanised cutting, building a simple trading ship necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over three months,” notes the author. “With wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured within seven days.”

Owing to this rapid automated saw, which converted logs to boards using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders could construct vessels faster compared to anyone else, which sparked a century of Netherlands naval, economic and artistic supremacy across the continent and the globe.

The Original True Manufacturing Machine

Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues the writer, represented “mankind’s initial authentic factory apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. One component converted the circular motion into vertical motion for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism changed that same rotary motion into a lateral movement feeding the log to the cutter. A ratchet system moved the wood forward one precise increment per stroke.

“Each element seemed simple on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius was to integrate them so the machine acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting with each downward motion while advancing on every return stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent application of fundamental parts.”

Which leads us to today’s puzzle. The task is you to reimagine one of the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.

Round and Up

Design a machine that turns rotary movement to vertical motion. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a cylinder or housing through which one of the rods can slide snugly. (Assume you can put things on a base, so that the parts don’t fall down.)

The solution returns later today UK with the solution.

Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to suggest (less celebrated) candidates for the world’s greatest creation.