How To Make Your Own Guillotine

To build the do-it-yourself guillotine you will need:

• 1 Rectangular folding table (or equivalent)
• 3 10' 2X4s
• 1 Sheet of plywood (4'x8')
• Table saw or skill saw
• Screws
• Drill
• Eyebolt, nut, and washer
• 20' Rope

Estimated time: 4 hours

The Scene:
This is one of my favorite props, so much so that after mine broke (it held up for 8 years), I built a new one. The guillotine isn't so much a scare (unless you have the strange fear of losing your head) as it is a "wow, that was cool". Here's how it works. The people are led into the torture chamber, at which time they meet the executioner and the person in the hanging cage. Then an escapee dressed in black comes running from another room screaming that he escaped and to get out of his way or they'll catch him again. Then the executioner turns around and clothes-lines the escapee. They struggle, and the executioner throws the escapee onto the guillotine table, drops the blade, and the escapee's head rolls towards the crowd. The trick is that on the table behind the head clamp, there is a volleyball in a mask that is identical to the one the escapee is wearing. The escapee on the table holds the mask with his hand until the blade drops, then it goes rolling toward the crowd.

Directions: