Why Are Guillotine Blades Angled?

[Sedalia Dave]

 

 

 

[Alpo]

Without looking at the video, I'm pretty sure that it's because they're not lopping off the head. They are slicing off the head. If the blade is in an angle it cuts. It slices. If it was square it would rely on weight entirely.

 

Plus I believe the guillotine was designed as a humane method of execution. So they want to make the head coming off as easy on the victim as possible.

 

Don't want him to end up like nearly headless Nick in Harry Potter - where they hit him 14 times with a dull sword and still didn't get it off.

[Sedalia Dave]

5 minutes ago, Alpo said:

Without looking at the video, I'm pretty sure that it's because they're not lopping off the head. They are slicing off the head. If the blade is in an angle it cuts. It slices. If it was square it would rely on weight entirely.

 

Plus I believe the guillotine was designed as a humane method of execution. So they want to make the head coming off as easy on the victim as possible.

 

Don't want him to end up like nearly headless Nick in Harry Potter - where they hit him 14 times with a dull sword and still didn't get it off.

 

Watch the video, You might learn something.

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

Slice rather than chop.

[Alpo]

31 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Watch the video, You might learn something.

I learned several things. One thing I learned is that if they were making the guillotine today, they most likely would not use an angled blade.

 

But the question is, did they have the science and the technology 250 years ago that these guys were using? Or did the designers use an angled blade because they presumed that a slicing cut would do a better job?

[Texas Lizard]

Maybe they did some test runs to see what work best....

 

Texas Lizard

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

45 minutes ago, Texas Lizard said:

Maybe they did some test runs to see what work best....

 

Texas Lizard

Using volunteers, of course.

[Dr. Zook]

Deleted out of respect for others...

[Ozark Huckleberry]

In the historical use of the guillotine, the neck of the condemned was stabilized so that it would not shift while being chopped. In the video, it's clear that the blades with a single angle are causing the mat to shift on impact, which gives the mat more time to compress and dilute the force of the stroke. 

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

8 hours ago, Alpo said:

But the question is, did they have the science and the technology 250 years ago that these guys were using?

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

 

 

 

 

 ..... so, the answer to the question isn't "aerodynamics" .........  🙃

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

Dr Zook

 

Yes It Is.

[Sedalia Dave]

6 hours ago, Ozark Huckleberry said:

In the historical use of the guillotine, the neck of the condemned was stabilized so that it would not shift while being chopped. In the video, it's clear that the blades with a single angle are causing the mat to shift on impact, which gives the mat more time to compress and dilute the force of the stroke. 

 

Good points

 

In the comments on youtube several people pointed out the same thing. They also pointed out that the roll tension of the mats varied a lot. Those used for Katana testing are rolled very tightly and consistently. The authors acknowledge the issues and stated that they would take them into account on their follow up video. 

[Subdeacon Joe]

https://pepijndevos.nl/2024/08/24/why-is-a-guillotine-blade-diagonal.html

[Sedalia Dave]

1 hour ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

https://pepijndevos.nl/2024/08/24/why-is-a-guillotine-blade-diagonal.html

 

Quote

But the story goes that the real reason the blade is diagonal is that the king suggested it might help with people with fat necks. Ironically his own fat neck ended on the block some time later.

 

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

Possible the use of a curved blade for easier severing of heads?

 

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]