Are You Able to Crack It? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation That Forged our Contemporary World

There are many contenders for the title of “planet’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The steam engine.

According to a recent publication, though, that title should go to the mechanised sawmill conceived through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.

“Before automated cutting, constructing a simple merchant vessel necessitated around ten sawyers laboring for 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-driven sawmills, the same quantity of processed timber could be manufactured in less than seven days.”

Owing to their rapid automated cutter, which turned logs to planks using virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders could build vessels more quickly than any other nation, which unleashed a century of Dutch maritime, economic and artistic supremacy in Europe and the globe.

The Original Genuine Industrial Device

Corneliszoon’s sawmill, argues Dávila, represented “humanity’s first true industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine turned a wheel. A single part converted its circular motion into vertical action for the saw. Another component transformed the rotary movement into a lateral movement advancing the log toward the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the wood forward a measured step each cycle.

“Each element was simple on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance lay in how to integrate these parts so the machine acted within a perfectly controlled order, cutting with each downward stroke while moving with each upward motion. It was a remarkably clever use of fundamental parts.”

Which brings us to the current challenge. I’d like you to reinvent one of the fundamental ideas underpinning this historic invention.

Circular to Vertical

Construct a mechanism which converts circular movement into vertical action. Your available these items only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve through which one of the bars can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a stand, so that the parts don’t fall down.)

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

Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) candidates for the planet’s most impactful invention.