Why is the blade on a guillotine at an angle?

But what if you take your knife and, like the famous guillotine blade, angle it to the direction of force/resistance? You drastically lessen the amount of blade that can come into contact with the skin if it compresses. read more

Overall, ease of manufacture, set up, and modification (simply adding larger weights to the top of the blade on a rail guided system is easier than on a blade that changes angle and elevation) dictate that a traditional guillotine is a more cost effective and easier to setup/use alternative than a axe-type guillotine. read more

If you have a blade that is sharpened to 15 degrees (chisel blade), if you draw it across a piece you are effectively decreasing that angle. The steeper the angle, the less force you need to use. The downside to honing an angle to a super acute angle is that they get really brittle. read more