Are You Able to Crack It? The Overlooked Dutch Creation Which Shaped the Modern Globe

There are many contenders to claim the title of “planet’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.

According to a new book, though, that honor should go to the automated sawmill conceived through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.

“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a simple merchant vessel required around ten lumberjacks working over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, an identical quantity of processed timber might be manufactured within a week.”

Thanks to their rapid mechanical cutter, that turned logs into boards using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders could build vessels faster than any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic and cultural dominance in the continent and the world.

The Original True Manufacturing Device

Corneliszoon’s sawmill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s initial true industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. A single part transformed the rotary motion to up-and-down action to power the cutting blade. Another component transformed the rotary movement into a lateral movement feeding the log toward the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log ahead one precise increment per cycle.

“Each element was modest on its own. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to integrate these parts so the machine operated in a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each downward stroke while advancing with each upward motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent use of fundamental components.”

Which brings us up to the current puzzle. I’d like you to reimagine a key the basic ideas behind Corneliszoon’s invention.

Circular to Vertical

Construct a machine which converts circular motion into up-and-down action. You have these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or housing through which one of the bars will fit snugly. (Consider that you can mount components on a base, so the components do not collapse.)

The solution returns later today UK time featuring the solution.

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