Yea it's poseable either way. In reality though, they usually cleaned guillotine's blade between beheadings later on in the 19th century. This model is taken from the earlier models of guillotines, such as the ones used in the early part of the French Revolution. I built this model for instructional purposes and to go with me when my brother and I do demonstrations with a real fully-functioning guillotine. Check out the video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/07UQpc1GVlQ