Here is my version of this trick. Made from walnut and maple.

I made it sturdy enough to split celery. I think it can also split a carrot.

Click here to view attached image.

That looks very nice!

Well done Inlver! You must have some woodworking chops if you can deal the tight tolerances that this prop demands.

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing.

Someone had mentioned that I could hide the workings of the trick better if I had not used maple for the blade.

But in the course of its construction, the spirit of Houdini appeared before me and he said that the physical appearance of the trick mattered more than masking its mechanism.

We conversed for a few more minutes, then he said he had to go. I asked him why and he said he had a meeting to attend and it was impossible for him to get out of it.

Very nice and inspirational.

Your version looks very nice indeed! I like your spirited explanantion of why you chose maple for the blade.

That's supposed to be a joke! Houdini always bragged there wasn't anything that he couldn't escape from.

I got that it was a joke, I just found it funny.