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There are many candidates for the title of “world’s most significant innovation.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.

As per a recent publication, though, that title should go to the mechanised timber mill invented by Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest in 1593.

“Before automated sawing, constructing a simple merchant vessel required around ten lumberjacks working for three months,” notes the author. “With wind-powered sawmills, an identical amount of cut lumber might be manufactured within seven days.”

Thanks to this speedy mechanical saw, that turned timber into planks with virtually no manual labor, Dutch builders were able to build vessels faster compared to anyone else, which unleashed a century of Dutch maritime, economic and artistic supremacy across Europe and the globe.

The Original True Manufacturing Device

Corneliszoon’s lumber mill, argues the writer, was “mankind’s initial authentic factory machine.” A windmill rotated a wheel. A single part converted the rotary motion to up-and-down action to power the saw. Another component transformed the spinning movement into a lateral movement advancing the log toward the cutter. A ratchet system moved the log forward a measured step each stroke.

“Each element seemed modest by itself. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine these parts in order that the machine acted in a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every descending motion while moving with each upward motion. This constituted a remarkably clever use of basic components.”

Which leads us to today’s puzzle. I’d like you to reinvent a key the fundamental ideas behind this historic machine.

Circular to Vertical

Construct a mechanism that turns rotary motion to vertical action. You have these components exclusively: A spinning wheel. 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 the parts don’t collapse.)

The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the solution.

In the interim, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please propose (less celebrated) contenders as the world’s most impactful creation.