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I've seen a few guillotine posts of late, and it got me thinking. While it's a highly efficient means of execution, isn't it technically challenging? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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What angle must the blade be? Is it good to have a high attack angle, or one that's nearly flat?

How heavy should the apparatus holding the blade be? How far should it travel? Is keen sharpening important, or does the weight do most of the work? What kind of latch/release do you use?

Lastly, morbid extra credit, did they ever execute someone with their face up, so they could see the blade coming?

EDIT FOR CLARITY: Way more complex than an axe or a noose.

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[–] juliebean@lemm.ee 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

a noose or an axe both put much more need on the skill of the executioner, while the guillotine puts more need on the skill of the engineer. both the axe and the noose are materially simpler, but still very fuckupable without special skills or training, while the guillotine, once built, is much more simply operated by one with less expertise. the guillotine is a tool of mass execution, and its apparent mechanical complexity is there to facilitate that, via ease of operation and resetability.

[–] Melatonin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 week ago

Absolutely. The National Assembly voted the guillotine, “the most gentle of lethal methods.”

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9930870/