Are You Able to Crack It? That Overlooked Dutch Creation That Forged the Contemporary Globe

There are many contenders for the designation as “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The combustion motor.

As per a recent publication, however, that title should go to the mechanised timber mill invented by Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.

“Before mechanised sawing, building a modest trading ship required approximately 10 sawyers laboring for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-driven sawmills, the same amount of processed timber might be produced within seven days.”

Owing to this speedy mechanical cutter, which converted logs to planks with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build vessels more quickly than anyone else, which unleashed one hundred years of Netherlands naval, economic as well as artistic dominance in the continent and the world.

The First Genuine Industrial Device

The inventor's lumber mill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s initial authentic industrial apparatus.” A windmill rotated a wheel. A single part transformed its rotary motion into up-and-down motion to power the saw. A separate mechanism transformed that same spinning movement into a sideway’s motion advancing the timber toward the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log forward one precise increment per stroke.

“Each element was modest by itself. The Dutchman’s genius lay in how to combine these parts so they acted in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each descending stroke and advancing on every return motion. This constituted a remarkably intelligent use of fundamental parts.”

Which brings us to today’s puzzle. The task is you to reinvent one of the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s machine.

Circular to Vertical

Design a machine that turns rotary movement into vertical action. Your available these components only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or housing into which a single the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a base, so the parts do not fall down.)

I’ll be back at 5pm UK featuring the solution.

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