[HN Gopher] Why is a Guillotine blade diagonal?
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Why is a Guillotine blade diagonal?
Author : jandeboevrie
Score : 39 points
Date : 2024-08-25 19:21 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (pepijndevos.nl)
(TXT) w3m dump (pepijndevos.nl)
| eternityforest wrote:
| Does being pushed sideways matter? If the knowArt test was on a
| small scale it might not have had the inertia of the full size.
| userbinator wrote:
| I thought this would be about paper guillotines.
| dylan604 wrote:
| what paper guillotine has a diagonal blade? all of the ones
| I've ever used were curved
| ce4 wrote:
| But thats because the cutting angle changes when depressing
| the lever. The curvature is meant to counter that to some
| extent.
| njb311 wrote:
| A printer's guillotine that cuts hundreds of sheets at once
| has a diagonal blade.
| userbinator wrote:
| The point is that they cut at an angle.
| khazhoux wrote:
| What should we take away from this comment?
| rolph wrote:
| this creates shear, lengthens the amount of blade edge, and
| directs force to a smaller contact surface than a perpedicular
| edge.
|
| [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]
|
| thus proclaimation was the lead contributor.
| beefnugs wrote:
| Cause someone thought the sound of SHIIINK was some terrifying
| original sound as opposed to clever chopping carrot
| hinkley wrote:
| Guillotine proposed his device as a more humane alternative to
| traditional modes of execution like being drawn and quartered.
|
| And contrary to legend he did not die by his own device.
| woleium wrote:
| Her device?
| themaninthedark wrote:
| Without reading the article, my guess would be because it allows
| the force to be focused on a smaller area at the start of the
| cut.
| blackeyeblitzar wrote:
| Wouldn't everything that is a blade be designed this way then?
| salomonk_mur wrote:
| Almost everything that is a blade is designed to be curved or
| slanted, yes.
| evilduck wrote:
| Many are. Scissors, drill bits, even the way most people use
| a kitchen knife, they put as much force onto as small of area
| as possible. At certain differences in scale it won't matter
| (razor blade vs a single hair), but how a cut is performed is
| definitely part of the design process.
| tengbretson wrote:
| Like a mandolin slicer?
| Spooky23 wrote:
| They are. Except for Japanese style knives, all knives have a
| slant.
|
| The Japanese knives are only sharpened with a single edge,
| however. So they in a profile view look like a tiny
| guillotine.
| tomjakubowski wrote:
| chopping vegetables with a chef's knife applies the same
| principle
| nosianu wrote:
| > it allows the force to be focused on a smaller area at the
| start of the cut
|
| Is this really true when the object to be cut, a neck, is
| approximately spherical?
|
| I can see the truth of the statement for a straight horizontal
| rectangular object, but for a cylinder-like shape?
| loloquwowndueo wrote:
| Cylindrical not spherical.
| im3w1l wrote:
| Less likely to bounce off a bone would be my guess? A diagonal
| blade will push obstacles out of the way.
| samstave wrote:
| Same Reason a Katana is curved, while the temp causes this, it
| augments the blades cutting angle, length, draw.
| d--b wrote:
| Which begs the question: why wasn't it shaped like a ^
| montroser wrote:
| It'd be tough to keep that inside corner sharp...
| mc32 wrote:
| Two overlapping triangles would work. A little work in
| disassembly reassembly, but not much.
| the_gipsy wrote:
| Just make it a V.
| almostgotcaught wrote:
| "to beg the question" means "to dodge the question". You mean
| "prompts the question".
| bee_rider wrote:
| Dictionaries now seem to give both the definitions. Such is
| the fate of us victims of the dynamic English language.
| ReptileMan wrote:
| Unlike cigar cutter on which you apply a constant force, a ^
| guillotine has fixed potential energy. It will get to the
| toughest part of the neck when bigger portion of it is spent,
| so it may or may not be enough to cut trough.
| lupusreal wrote:
| I'm sure diagonal blades are more practical, but style must be
| part of it right? It was a theatrical method of execution after
| all, done for crowds.
| yumraj wrote:
| _Slant_ razors, like the Merkur slant, are also slightly angled
| for an easier shave.
|
| I have one and can vouch for it.
| tithe wrote:
| One colloquial term for the guillotine was (is?) "le rasoir
| national" = "the national razor."
|
| Other colorful terms include "the regretful climb", "the
| silence mill", "Capet's necktie", "the patriotic shortener",
| "half-moon", "timbers of justice", and "Charlot's rocking-
| chair".
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine#Names_for_the_guill...
| zikduruqe wrote:
| Run that with a Feather blade, and buddy, you will be
| facesturbating all day.
| valeg wrote:
| Reminded me of this "La Revolution francaise" scene
| https://youtu.be/YPiiAHSi_48?t=5236
| readthenotes1 wrote:
| Unreadable in dark mode :(
| skribanto wrote:
| Looks fine to me
| VonGallifrey wrote:
| It is white text on black background by default. Do you have
| some browser plugins that mess with the website content?
| nabla9 wrote:
| One explanation is missing: the angle of the edge.
|
| If the blade edge has been sharpened to 20 degree angle, it has
| the same 20 degree cutting angle when used diagonally. The
| effective cutting angle decreases in the direction of the cut
| when you rotate it. The smaller the angle, the sharper the knife.
| cft wrote:
| Mainly because the slicing motion separates fibers in the fresh,
| it's more effective than blunt force. Same with a knife.
|
| It's interesting, however, that this post is much higher on the
| front page than the post about Durov's arrest by the French ever
| was, despite having 1/10th the number of comments during a
| similar time period.
| Giorgi wrote:
| Quite the fascinating story, I dig up a bit more:
| https://archive.org/details/memoirsofsansons00sansuoft/page/...
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(page generated 2024-08-25 23:01 UTC)