Ah shoot, thanks for the correction. I was told by a history major a while back that casting the blade would be cheaper and easier than the nails needed for a hanging platform so forgive my lack of knowledge. Your explination makes sense apologies for the likely misinfo

Last thing, as for sharpness, they were supposed to be sharpened and maintained sharp by the excecutioner. I assume that this wasn't always the case but it was the standard. Executioners even usually owned multiple guillotines so that they could cycle through them when they wore down, repairing and maintaining the ones not in use