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One can find many contenders for the designation as “world’s greatest innovation.” The circular axle. The movable type. The steam engine.

According to a new book, though, that title should go to a mechanised sawmill invented by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon during 1593.

“Prior to mechanised sawing, constructing a simple trading ship required approximately ten sawyers working for 90 days,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, an identical quantity of cut lumber could be manufactured in less than a week.”

Thanks to this speedy automated cutter, which converted logs to planks using virtually no human effort, the Dutch were able to construct ships more quickly than anyone else, which unleashed a century of Dutch maritime, economic and cultural supremacy in the continent and the world.

The First Genuine Industrial Machine

Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s initial true factory apparatus.” A windmill turned a gear. One component transformed the rotary movement to up-and-down action to power the saw. A separate mechanism changed that same rotary movement into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber to the cutter. A ratchet system shifted the wood ahead a measured step each stroke.

“Every component was simple by itself. Corneliszoon’s brilliance was to combine them in order that they acted in a precisely synchronized order, cutting on every downward stroke while advancing with each upward stroke. It was a remarkably clever application of basic components.”

A fact that brings us up to today’s challenge. I’d like for you to reinvent a key the basic concepts underpinning this historic machine.

Circular to Vertical

Construct a mechanism that turns circular motion to vertical action. You have these components only: A spinning wheel. Two pegs. Two rods. A “guide”, which is a cylinder or sleeve through which a single the rods will fit perfectly. (Assume you can mount components on a stand, so that the parts don’t fall down.)

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

In the interim, NO SPOILERS. Instead, please propose (non obvious) candidates for the world’s most impactful invention.