I see all the memes about guillotines for the rich, funny in spirit, but actually building one in the town square is not practical. They take a ton of materials, they are huge, and they do not even work reliably. Would it not make more sense to build one from metal with hydraulic pistons or something? I am not a machinist, but a more mobile unit you could wheel into a square to decapitate a few effigies seems about as effective for sending a message, and easier to remove or relocate if needed.
If it’s about sending a message, then the item itself is the conveyor of the message, not an unrecognizable but more efficient substitute. The guillotine is a recognisable symbol of people rising up and seizing power from the criminal ruling class. It is a warning and a threat.
If you plan on actually executing people, then sure - optimize all you want, or just go with a bullet to the brain.
But as a symbol, the guillotine is powerful.
Ugh? Guillotines are very reliable actually. And it’s not that expensive, everything is wood except the large blade. Also, you can’t fake an execution, the crowd will be satisfied when they see the head
I remember these specials from the 90s. They also did one with secrets of pro wrestling. Except the pro wrestling secrets were all very outdated and no longer being used.
Damn, MSR was sooo good
not that expensive, everything is wood
Oh how times have changed
Don’t fix what’s not broken
Guillotines are too tame for modern audiences. Wood chippers are fresh and exciting.
Ohhh that’s great!
Ton of materials?
It’s just a large frame to hold a big knife dropped by letting go of a rope. The hardest thing to get would be the blade, and the whole thing could be constructed in under 2 hours.
Do know what a meme is?
Honestly, some people don’t. Assuming op isn’t trolling, one of my kids is like this.
Same reason we still “hang up” the phone.
You can make them modular, with telescoping rails, for portability. The blade needs to be weighted, but the weight can consist of a stack of weights, like on gym equipment. In fact, you could probably repurpose a bench press machine into a guillotine with a few minor modifications.
You can also add jets to make it shoot down faster.
I love where your head is at! 🤣
for now…
Not the basket D:
It’s called a Smith Machine.
Really smooth action.
Who is joking?
Nobody is wanting to build a guillotine. it’s simply a symbolic reference to the French Revolution.
Exactly. It’s like when people joke “eat the rich”. Zero desire for cannibalism, but 100% desire for the rich to be removed from the earth.
Compost the rich.
Excellent solution.
If we’re being actually realistic I think it’s “tax the rich so that they are no longer so extremely rich, and use the resulting funds to benefit the general population.”
There’s no need for killing.
I don’t know. I hear the rich are full of toxins and heavy metals.
Compost is usually used to feed vegetables, so I don’t think I would want that particular solution.
I would say it might be better to macerate and dehydrate the rich and then use the resultant rich jerky as part of a carbon barrier for depleted uranium and other hazardous radioactive wastes.
I have a desire for cannibalism. I’ve heard human meat can be pretty tasty when cooked and seasoned just right.
Long pig.
Building is a lot of work. Using one is another story.
Because if we talk about guns and bombs we end up on a list.
I like your approach here of making a clearly wrong statement just to get more activity on this important topic
I will add yet another comment that guillotines are neither complicated nor require much material. you could make a sturdy one with less than a dozen 2x4s, some screws, a scrap piece of rope, and whatever junk metal you have lying around that’s around 24x8 (which you need regardless of how fancy the frame itself is)
that said, mobile ones seem like they would also have a purpose
Use a log splitter with a different blade, higher capacity valance and an accumulator for faster action. Strengthen the frame and maybe add a dampener for the end of stroke so things last longer. Reloading ca be controlled by smaller hoses.
Don’t log splitters work incredibly slow?
That’s not really gonna chop people’s heads off, rather it would inexorably pinch their necks until their head falls off.
That’s pretty fucking gruesome.
If we’re going for gruesome, how about we build a huge version of one of those slicers that they feed vegetables in, and just feed the oligarchs into it.
Gives you the option to feed them head first if you want to show mercy, while still being able to feed them in feet first for someone like Musk.
Then they are cut up into small, easy to compost pieces.
Wood chippers exist and are pretty much this
While I appreciate the composting efficiency, I was thinking something like this for maximum gruesomeness:
that’s just a wood chipper on less of an angle and with the blade shown
and a bigger blade because it doesn’t have the stiffening framework behind
Most wood splinters do move slow but that one (Large valve and accumulator) would make it faster.
so things last longer.
Sadism is a negative, not a positive.
I thought they mean it for the equipment, that it does not wear out so fast
If your execution equipment is wearing out from overuse then that raises further questions that a society should probably think about.
well I don’t know how many uses it takes to wear out a decent guillotine, from my part it could be good if it can do 5 turns. no idea
“Last longer” was referring to the machine life not the execution. The accumulator is there to make it painless.
if it were up to me, i would use a chainsaw
Are you the type that loves bathing in gore? Because that’s what will happen immediately if you start chainsawing people up. They throw everything directly back at the user.
Treat it like a Gallagher show and give the first 3 rows rain ponchos.
shit, man. fuck
With a ball chain on it instead, make the moment last longer.
Same reason people have crosses on them. It’s a symbol.
Why am I thinking of a d4a/InheritanceMachining crossover episode?
