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When we hear of the name, Leonardo Da Vinci, our thoughts first conjure up the image of the Mona Lisa. But did you know the Mona Lisa was painted on a piece of poplar wood? It’s not painted on canvas.Leonardo Da Vinci did so much in his life it’s hard to image any one person could accomplish it all! Besides his paintings the man was an inventor. Some inventions you might already know, such as the bicycle, a car, and a tank. But he also made the first self feeding hydraulic saw. The photo shows a reproduction saw built from Leonardo’s original plans. It was meant to be powered by water as the main source of power supply.

As the water wheel turned it meshed with the other gears and windings of rope. One set of gears and windings pulled a sled that feed the board into the saw blades. The other set of gears moved the series of saw blades up and down.

This reproduction saw was in the Di Vinci museum in Florence Italy. It didn’t mention if the saw was ever made and used, or just designed by Da Vinci. But who knows, maybe before any paint of the Mona Lisa  ever touched the poplar board, perhaps it was ripped to size on his saw machine?

I can say that the museum left me awestruck. How one man could  be a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist,botanist, and writer is beyond me. But the thing i wonder most about is, could Leonardo Da Vinci dance?!?!?

Go dance now people!