Are You Able to Crack It? That Forgotten Netherlands Invention That Forged our Contemporary Globe

One can find many contenders for the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.

As per a recent publication, however, that title should go to a automated sawmill invented through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.

“Prior to automated cutting, building a simple merchant vessel required approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring over three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be produced in less than seven days.”

Owing to this speedy automated saw, that converted timber into boards using virtually no human effort, the Dutch could build ships faster than anyone else, which sparked a century of Netherlands maritime, economic and artistic dominance across the continent and the world.

The Original True Manufacturing Machine

Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends Dávila, represented “humanity’s initial authentic factory apparatus.” A windmill rotated a gear. One component transformed its rotary motion into vertical motion for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism changed the spinning motion into a lateral movement advancing the timber toward the blade. A geared mechanism moved the wood forward a measured step per cycle.

“Each element seemed simple by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to integrate these parts so the machine acted in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each downward motion and moving on every upward stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent use of fundamental parts.”

Which brings us to the current challenge. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the basic concepts behind this historic machine.

Round and Up

Construct a machine that turns rotary motion into vertical action. You have these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or housing into which a single the rods will fit snugly. (Consider that it is possible to put things on a stand, so the components don’t fall down.)

I’ll be back later today UK time featuring the solution.

In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) contenders as the planet’s most impactful invention.