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One can find many candidates for the designation as “world’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.

As per a recent publication, however, that title should go to a automated timber mill invented through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.

“Before mechanised cutting, constructing a modest trading ship necessitated around ten lumberjacks laboring over 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “With wind-powered sawmills, the same quantity of processed timber might be produced within seven days.”

Thanks to this speedy mechanical cutter, which turned timber to boards using virtually no human effort, Dutch builders were able to build ships faster than any other nation, which unleashed one hundred years of Dutch naval, financial as well as cultural supremacy in the continent and the world.

The Original Genuine Manufacturing Device

The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, represented “humanity’s first authentic industrial machine.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. One component transformed the circular movement into up-and-down motion for the saw. A separate mechanism transformed that same rotary motion into a lateral motion feeding the timber toward the blade. A ratchet system shifted the log forward a measured step per cycle.

“Each element was simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance lay in how to integrate them in order that the machine acted within a perfectly controlled sequence, cutting on every descending motion and advancing on every return motion. This constituted an astonishingly clever use of fundamental components.”

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

Round and Up

Construct a mechanism that turns rotary motion into vertical motion. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve through which one of the rods can slide perfectly. (Assume it is possible to put things on a stand, so that the components do not fall down.)

The solution returns later today UK time featuring the solution.

Meanwhile, NO SPOILERS. Rather, feel free to propose (non obvious) candidates as the planet’s greatest creation.