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There are numerous contenders to claim the designation as “world’s most significant invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.

According to a recent publication, though, that honor should go to a mechanised sawmill invented through Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.

“Prior to automated cutting, constructing a modest merchant vessel necessitated around 10 sawyers laboring over 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-powered sawmills, an identical quantity of cut lumber might be manufactured within a week.”

Thanks to their rapid automated saw, which turned logs to planks using virtually no human effort, the Dutch could build ships faster than any other nation, an advantage that sparked one hundred years of Netherlands maritime, economic and cultural supremacy across Europe and the world.

The First Genuine Industrial Machine

Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues Dávila, represented “humanity’s initial authentic industrial machine.” A windmill turned a gear. A single part converted the rotary motion to up-and-down motion to power the saw. Another component transformed the spinning motion into a lateral motion advancing the timber toward the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the log forward a measured step per stroke.

“Every component seemed simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance lay in how to combine them in order that the machine acted within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every descending motion while moving with each return stroke. This constituted a remarkably intelligent application of fundamental parts.”

Which brings us to today’s puzzle. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the fundamental concepts underpinning this historic invention.

Circular to Vertical

Design a mechanism that turns circular motion into vertical motion. You have these items exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “guide”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which a single the rods can slide snugly. (Consider that it is possible to mount components on a base, so the parts do not fall down.)

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

Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) contenders for the planet’s greatest creation.