Guillotine

The Guillotine was a project I decided on almost immdiately after last Halloween. I was kind of unsure as to whether or not I should go through with the construction, as I didn't know how people would take it. I wasn't sure if it crossed the line of a tasteful Halloween display and a gross-out display. After much consideration, and the realization that I had crossed the line of being tasteful and reserved a loooong time ago, I decided to go for it.

The idea for the display came from a website I found while originally searching for project ideas after Halloween, called The Coroner Store. The plans and explanation were so simple I knew I would have to attempt it. Their Guillotine looked rather real, (to someone not accustomed to viewing guillotines, that is), and was very impressive.

Their guillotine was non-working, with a fake blade which did not move. Yet, it looked like it could take your head off at any time. And the best part was, it was all made out of wood. One of my biggest criteria for new projects is reality, or the perception of reality, in the display. I try to stay away from cutesy plasticy dimestore stuff. Every part of the display that looks real adds more to the perception of the cemetery, and allows for the viewer to "suspend disbelief" and get into the right frame of mind for being scared.

I measured mine out before construction just so I knew what I was supposed to be doing! I am pressed for space in the cemetery as it is, so I only wanted to make my Guillotine about 2 feet wide. I could make it pretty tall, as I imagine most guillotines are in order to get a good force built up by the time it slices through your neck.

The actual pieces of the whole contraption are pretty simple. A basic wood frame with cross-pieces at the bottom for "feet" to balance it out. There's a flat top piece that extends beyond the frame, and an inner wood bracing to hang the blade from. There's also a lower wood bracing at the bottom. Two pieces of plywood at the bottom to simulate a "headlock", with a circle for the head cut out between the two (these pieces are secured to the frame, you can't actually lock a person's head in there). And of course, the blade. The blade Does Not work, as I had to explain many times to my neighbors! The blade connects to the top wood bracing via a small length of chain, attached to eye-hooks (screwed into the blade and bracing). The blade and headlock pieces are just plywood. I screwed a 1 X 2 furring to the top of the blade, to secure the chain and brace the wood of the blade. The wood I got for the blade was crappy, and soaked up some moisture to make it warp. The furring helped to straighten the blade board out as well. The outer frame pieces were 2 X 4s.

The top flat piece, the top and bottom braces, and the crosspiece feet were all 2 X 6s. The "headlock" pieces at the bottom, and the blade are attached from behind with pieces of 1 X 2 furrings. I used 2 inch drywall screws to stick the frame all together, and 1 inch drywall screws to secure the furrings to the frame and the plywood to the furrings.

The whole thing took about 3 hours to put together, and another hour in total to paint it up.(Originally I thought the blade would be able to hang freely on the chain. But because of the shape of the blade, it tilts to the side. Also, it moves around quite a bit in the wind, so I did attach it to the frame to keep it in place) All the measurements are provided on the diagram below.

The important part was making it look real. The blade was painted with reflective metal silver spray paint. I had to put a couple of coats on it to get it looking like real metal.

The wood wasn't of high quality, and soaked the paint up. To get the blade's edge, I used a high reflective chrome paint, and just did a 2 inch strip along the bottom, cutting edge of the blade. This gives it the look of a real metal blade edge.

I stained the rest of the Guillotine frame a real dark brown using wood stain, trying to keep it as simple as possible. The Coroner Store version used sweatshirt material ripped into pieces and draped over the headlock area to simulate blood, which I thought looked pretty good. I went for the splattered look on the blade and headlock using a red spray paint. I didn't acutally like the way this turned out, and might just redo the blade for next year.

Once I had the Guillotine built, I had to have a body and a head to go with it, not to mention an Executioner to operate it. The Executioner was one of the 5 Monster Dummies I made. I didn't have the time for a body, but I did manage a nice severed head in a cauldron below the headlock. The head was a mask I found for cheap on ebay, stuffed with a couple of towels. I really like the chewing rat.

In the end, I got no complaints about the Guillotine or its affects, and it looked pretty damn good if you ask me. The only problem was the Guillotine was a bit shaky because of it's height despite the stabilizer cross pieces at the feet, and it tended to catch the wind. The whole contraption went on the front porch to prevent its tipping over, and was kinda obscured (and overlooked) by some of the other cemetery displays. I wish I had more room to display the Guillotine and give it more prominence in the display. Hopefully the cemetery will expand next year and I will have the room to give all the props the viewing area they deserve.

Click on the thumbnail to see the diagram and measurements for my Guillotine.

Original Guillotine Plans

Plans to make a static guillotine prop

The measurements can be adapted to suit what you want. I made mine out of scrap wood lying around the house and then measured it afterwards. It's one of these props that looks great from a few feet away in low light. The "blood" you see in the picture is actually pieces of fabric from an old soccer jersey. It gives a nice effect with no clean-up.