sawdust on ice for anti-slip

[Ryan Mooney]

This is one of those things where it kind of seemed obvious, but as I was doing it today I thought maybe it's not and figured I'd pass it along anyway.

Anyway, a light dusting of sawdust works extremely well on ice and greasy snow as a way to make it less slippery. Way better than sand imho. It also mostly dried up and blows away in the small amounts needed. One caution is that it's not so good for melting ice because it kind of helps form sawdust icecrete and acts as a bit of an insulator. But for a slippery day it can be really handy to make it a bit easier to maneuver around. We get a lot of "greasy snow" where if you even shovel it can still be super slickery so I use sawdust a fair bit.. A couple double handfuls does a 20'+ walking path.

 

[Charles Lent]

One night during a rainy ice storm I left my shop only to discover that my driveway was too slippery to even stand on. Fortunately, I didn't fall. I raided the bottom of my Unisaw and filled a bucket with the sawdust, then sprinkled some ahead of me on my trip to the house. The remainder got sprinkled on the paths to the other house doors. The bucket stayed in the house for 2 days, until I ventured out to the shop again. It works, and was there when I needed it. I don't have a bed or breakfast in the shop.

Charley

 

[Mike Stafford]

We have never had greasy snow. Muddy snow, yes; coal stained snow, yes; yellow snow, yes but never greasy snow.

By the way, that yellow snow is not lemon flavored so don't try to make lemon flavored snow cream from it.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

I dunno how else to describe it other than greasy. It's like snow that somehow turned to crisco on the driveway. Slicker than butter on a fast mouse.

 

[Mike Stafford]

I dunno how else to describe it other than greasy. It's like snow that somehow turned to crisco on the driveway. Slicker than butter on a fast mouse.

My experience with snow is very limited so I cannot say I have seen more than a few varieties.... As I once said around here we have snow and ice. Most of the snow melts on contact with the highway and forms a layer of ice that is "slicker than butter on a fast mouse".

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

I'm curious where butter on a fast mouse is on the slickness graph. Maybe somewhere around a greased pig, and I'm assuming both are slicker than snot.

 

[Mike Stafford]

I use to have a collection of idioms and colloquialisms....I like unusual words and sayings particularly those that I hear in the area where I live.
Try these on for size... many of them we all have heard. I have either said or heard all of these and many more that I cannot include for fear of violating our community standards.

"he’s runnin’ around like a chicken with his head cut off"
"mad as a wet hen"
"scarce as hen's teeth"
"he's grinnin' like a mule eatin' briars"
"clumsy as a hog on ice"
"happy as a dead pig in the sunshine"
"slicker than goose grease"
"it doesn't matter a hill of beans"
"finer than a frog hair split four ways"
"he could eat corn through a picket fence"
"don't let the screen door hit you"
"ain't worth a lick"
"worn slap out"
"full as a tick"
"stir up a hornet's nest"
"livin' in high cotton"
"he looks rode and put up wet"
"can't make a silk purse out of sow's ear"
"he thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow"
"worthless as gum on a boot heel"
"busier than a cat covering crap on a marble floor"
"slicker'n owl crap"
"busier than a moth inside a mitten"
"busier than a one legged cat in a sand box"
"lower'n a snake belly in a wagon rut"
"he squeezes a quarter so tight you can hear the eagle scream"
"he is so cheap he wouldn't give a nickel to see Jesus ridin' a bicycle"
"she wore pants so tight I could see her religion"
"it is so dry the trees are bribing the dogs"
"won't hit a lick at a snake"
"if brains were leather he ain't got enough to saddle a June bug"
"he is so dumb he could throw himself on the ground and miss"
"butter my butt and call me a biscuit"
"if you can't run with the big dogs, stay under the porch"
"nervous as a long-tailed cat in a roomful of rocking chairs"
"he couldn't carry a tune if he had a bucket with a lid on it"
"hotter'n a goat's butt in pepper patch"
"that rain was a real frog wash"
"that smelled bad enough to gag a maggot"

 

[Ryan Mooney]

My experience with snow is very limited so I cannot say I have seen more than a few varieties..

I can say with some confidence that the varieties are essentially unlimited.

I'm curious where butter on a fast mouse is on the slickness graph. Maybe somewhere around a greased pig, and I'm assuming both are slicker than snot.

Depends on the kind of snot, moose snot is locally known as being particularly slickery, especially if it's cold enough.. Slicker than Moose Snot. I would saw it's competive and certainly giving the old pig a run for it's money.

"he's grinnin' like a mule eatin' briars"

I like that one hah.

"he looks rode and put up wet"

That was "rode hard and put up wet" which was in reference to the sorry state a horse would be in after such a condition. There was a corollary I probably can't repeat here.. about people who left their horse in such a state...

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

...There was a corollary I probably can't repeat here.. about people who left their horse in such a state...

Yeah, most of the idioms that come to my mind are things that can't be repeated here, lol. One that does come to mind was one I'd say pretty often (and with disgust) if I was having a bad night at the table when I was playing in a pool league..."I can't hit anything tonight. I couldn't hit the floor falling down!"

Circling back to the original topic, I have a bag or two of lathe shavings and finer bits that'll I'll hang onto for the next time we're dealing with icy sidewalks here. Great idea.

 

[Mike Stafford]

Yeah, most of the idioms that come to my mind are things that can't be repeated here, lol. One that does come to mind was one I'd say pretty often (and with disgust) if I was having a bad night at the table when I was playing in a pool league..."I can't hit anything tonight. I couldn't hit the floor falling down!"

Circling back to the original topic, I have a bag or two of lathe shavings and finer bits that'll I'll hang onto for the next time we're dealing with icy sidewalks here. Great idea.

Speaking of pool, have you ever seen any videos of Efrem "Bata" Reyes who is generally recognized as the GOAT of pool. I haven't played any pool since I was in college and back in those days the balls were only mostly round; at least that is my excuse. I was a lousy pool player....really, really lousy.

Efrem Reyes is from the Philippines and he is in our age range but he plays pool like no one I have ever seen. He makes shots that are absolutely unbelievable. Just Google his name and take a peek at some of the videos of his more memorable matches.

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Speaking of pool, have you ever seen any videos of Efrem "Bata" Reyes who is generally recognized as the GOAT of pool. I haven't played any pool since I was in college and back in those days the balls were only mostly round; at least that is my excuse. I was a lousy pool player....really, really lousy.

Efrem Reyes is from the Philippines and he is in our age range but he plays pool like no one I have ever seen. He makes shots that are absolutely unbelievable. Just Google his name and take a peek at some of the videos of his more memorable matches.

Oh yeah, I've watched a lot of Efrem's playing. (This is despite the fact that most of the videos out there have been put together by an idiot, but that a whole other story, lol.) He is indeed the greatest of all time, and also a very chill guy who's just as willing to play a game of pick-up pool in a bar as play a world championship. He's old enough that he's no longer shooting in top form, but he's definitely one of a kind.

I also watch a lot of Ronnie O'Sullivan, who is to snooker as Efrem is to pool. He's universally recognized as the best there is on a snooker table.

 

[Chuck Ellis]

My first wife was sorta short sighted.... I used to tell people she needed her glasses to find the floor in the morning.

 

[Ryan Mooney]

My first wife was sorta short sighted.... I used to tell people she needed her glasses to find the floor in the morning.

Man I feel that in my eyeballs. If I set my glasses down I'll loose them or have to feel around for where they are.