Are You Able to Solve It? The Forgotten Dutch Invention Which Shaped the Modern Globe

One can find numerous contenders to claim the designation as “planet’s greatest invention.” The wheel. The movable type. The steam engine.

As per a new book, however, that honor should go to a automated timber mill conceived through Dutchman Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.

“Prior to automated sawing, constructing a modest merchant vessel required approximately ten lumberjacks working over three months,” writes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-powered sawmills, the same quantity of processed timber could be manufactured within seven days.”

Owing to this rapid automated cutter, that converted logs to planks using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders could build vessels more quickly compared to anyone else, an advantage that unleashed a century of Dutch naval, financial and cultural dominance across Europe and the globe.

The Original True Industrial Machine

The inventor's sawmill, argues Dávila, was “mankind’s first authentic industrial machine.” A windmill rotated a gear. One component converted its rotary motion into up-and-down motion for the saw. Another component changed that same rotary motion into a sideway’s movement feeding the log toward the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log ahead a measured step per stroke.

“Every component seemed modest by itself. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to combine these parts so the machine operated in a perfectly controlled sequence, sawing with each descending motion while moving with each upward motion. It was a remarkably clever use of fundamental parts.”

A fact that leads us to the current puzzle. I’d like you to reimagine a key the fundamental ideas behind Corneliszoon’s machine.

Circular to Vertical

Construct a mechanism which converts circular movement to up-and-down action. Your available these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a tube or sleeve into which a single the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so the components do not fall down.)

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

In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Rather, please propose (non obvious) contenders for the planet’s greatest invention.