Woodworkers replicate behemoth WWII bomb
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Woodworkers Andy Lockhart and John Morel teamed up to replicate this Grand Slam bomb for the Bomber Command Museum of Canada.
Woodworkers Andy Lockhart and John Morel teamed up to replicate this Grand Slam bomb for the Bomber Command Museum of Canada.

NANTON, Alberta - The Bomber Command Museum of Canada, recently took delivery of a replica of the largest bomb using during World War II. The full-scale model of the Grand Slam bomb was fabricated by Andy Lockhart and John Morel, custom woodworkers based in southern Alberta.

The original Grand Slams weighed 10,000 kilograms (22,400 pounds), were 7.75 meters (25 feet five inches) long and had a diameter of 1.2 meter (3 feet 10 inches). Forty-one of them were dropped by the Royal Air Force in 1945 as the war was drawing to a close on enemy bridges and other infrastructure.


Lockhart and Morel used 1-1/2-inch sheets of MDF that were cut into 24 sections and coopered like a barrel to form the nose, according to the Journal of Commerce. Other materials included 3/4-inch plywood, fiberglass and aluminum.

The Bomber Command Museum also has a replica of a Tallboy earthquake bomb, which is slightly bigger than half the weight of the Grand Slam. An Avro Lancaster FM1-159, the bomber that was used to deliver the massive bombs to their targets, also resides at the museum.

 

 

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Rich Christianson | President/Owner/C-Level

Rich Christianson is the owner of Richson Media LLC, a Chicago-based communications firm focused on the industrial woodworking sector. Rich is the former long-time editorial director and associate publisher of Woodworking Network. During his nearly 35-year career, Rich has toured more than 250 woodworking operations throughout North America, Europe and Asia and has written extensively on woodworking technology, design and supply trends. He has also directed and promoted dozens of woodworking trade shows, conferences and seminars including the Cabinets & Closets Conference & Expo and the Woodworking Machinery & Supply Conference & Expo, Canada’s largest woodworking show.