"Lobby Dosser" wrote in message
news:Qetbh.8864$Kw2.4635@trndny05...
Just a reminder that it is traction time again and many tire outlets sell
bags of sand. Most are small enough to be easily aranged in the base of
your lathe stand for steadiness and to dampen vibration, the latter
property being one of the prime reasons for using sand as weight.

Here in the NW, Les Schwab tire dealers sells a 70# bag for $6.00. I
bought
three today for the bed of my Ford Ranger - haven't needed to use it in
ice
and snow before this winter.

What? Don't you store bowl blanks in the back like the rest of us?
Half-dozen frozen 20" birch work great.

Try one bag of chicken grit. Crushed granite around here, and sharper than
any sand out there when it comes to traction. Put it in one of those square
and stable kinds of plastic containers that won't flop around. Keep a
couple of 3' lengths of 8" wide expanded metal available for places where
you might bury too deep for the grit. For those who might accuse me of
jargon rather than precise terminology, here's what I'm referring to.
http://www.directmetals.com/products/expanded_metal/ Regular is preferred
for traction.

Three Rangers the last 25 years, and snow in abundance (~250") behind those
recommendations. No, I don't have 4WD. Not sure where I'd want to go that
I'd need it. The ambulances, well, that's another matter.