Are You Able to Solve It? The Forgotten Dutch Creation Which Forged the Contemporary Globe

There are many contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s most significant innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.

As per a recent publication, though, that title belongs to the mechanised sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.

“Before mechanised sawing, building a simple trading ship necessitated around 10 lumberjacks working over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, an identical amount of processed timber could be produced in less than a week.”

Thanks to this speedy mechanical cutter, which turned timber to planks with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly compared to anyone else, which unleashed one hundred years of Netherlands maritime, economic and artistic supremacy across the continent and the world.

The Original Genuine Manufacturing Machine

Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, contends Dávila, was “mankind’s initial authentic industrial apparatus.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part converted the rotary motion to up-and-down motion for the saw. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning motion into a lateral movement feeding the timber toward the blade. A ratchet system shifted the log ahead a measured step per cycle.

“Each element seemed modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to integrate these parts in order that the machine operated within a precisely synchronized sequence, cutting with each descending stroke and advancing on every return stroke. It was a remarkably intelligent application of basic components.”

A fact that brings us to today’s challenge. The task is you to reimagine one of the basic concepts underpinning this historic invention.

Circular to Vertical

Design a machine that turns circular motion to vertical motion. Your available these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which one of the bars can slide snugly. (Consider that you can put things on a base, so that the components do not fall down.)

I’ll be back at 5pm UK with the answer.

Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to propose (less celebrated) candidates as the planet’s most impactful invention.