The danger of wearing a ring?

[Glenn]

What are the dangers of wearing a ring(s) and working with metal, blacksmithing, or welding?
This can include other jewelry such as ear rings, necklaces, bracelets, etc.

Add your advice and stories.

[aametalmaster]

I lost my ring finger when i was 17. My class ring got hooked on a VW bumper while i was bumper skiing thru the local drive in resturant. Got it sewed back on and its ok now just a few sizes bigger.

I don't like welding with mine on because it seems to collect hot splatter, you really shouldn't wear any jewerly while working...Bob

[Dr Dean]

you really shouldn't wear any jewerly while working...Bob

I agree with Bob, however my wedding ring hasn't been off my finger in 11 years. I now have a callus(sp?) that is thicker than the ring. One thing I never do is to jump off any machinery, that's where most fingers are lost due to a ring. In addition to getting a finger removed keep in mind that a ring is an excellent conductor of electricty.

[agsolder]

The thing about accidents is they are accidental-- so minimize the possibilities going in. No rings, neck chains, wrist watches, ID bracelets, pony tails in the shop. No cowboy boots if you are cutting or welding. Lace-up hightops with steel toes, metatarsal guards, leathern apron and jacket, safety glasses, no synthetic fabrics. Even then danger lurks.... Most unpredictable/accidental ring accident I've heard about was a guy doing a tin roof with a steep slope, lost his footing on the ladder, caught his ring finger on a nail head and lost it....

[Ten Hammers]

I was trained in Aircraft Hydraulics at age 17. U.S.Navy. In the first class we attended, our attention was directed to a small shelf on the wall. Small size Skippy jar was on the shelf ( peanut butter jar for you folks away from USA ). In the jar was a clear liquid ( we were told alcohol but I really don't know ). IN the clear liquid was a fellas finger with ring attached. This ring was fusion welded to a piece of steel hydraulic line ( electrically charged steel hydraulic line ). Ring stuck. This is in an area where access was somewhat limited but could get a tubing cutter and some sort of shears. We were advised that if we wished to wear jewelry, this might be the results ( and of course we were warned about the chance of snagging rings as well ). No doubt in my mind, this information stuck in my head. Years later, I removed my wedding ring after a near miss snag. I wore a wedding ring for I guess 25 years ( of my 32 year current marriage ). I did yes enjoy wearing the ring. Wives will either get over the fact that husbands ( or vice versa ) remove rings temporarily or permantly ( and yes lose them ) due to safety. "But you wear gloves" is not an arguement. I ALMOST lost an index finger in a saw accident but that is another story. I don't wear wrist watches for the same reason mostly ( although lotta bands will break fairly easily ). These will of course be your choices. I ain't EVEN gonna start on body piercings....

[jimmy seale]

my experience was on a crane, i was climbing off the gantry and hung my wedding ring in the ladder, no real damage but was a cut nad had to use pliers to round out to remove. was my bad but it might not have happened if i was wearing gloves, or it may have been worse. it's in the jewelry box and a reminder how lucky i was that day, take head folks, jimmy seale

[Glenn]

I work with photographic chemicals that attack the gold before it works on the silver in the photographic negs and paper. I don't wear rings for that reason.

If the spouse says you must wear a ring to show your love and commitment, that is fine, but maybe at the cost of loosing a finger, or worse? If the relationship is strong, the ring will not make any difference. Where you sleep at night shows your love and commitment. The ring is just a symbol (remember the words way back when).

[HWooldridge]

I've been married almost 27 years and the wedding ring has never been off my finger. At this point, it will not even come off as my hands have swollen over the years. The only thing that happened in that time is a small piece of weld spatter stuck to it once but that was easy to remove. However, I do not wear a wristwatch or other jewelry.

[yesteryearforge]

ive been married almost 38 years and I have never worn my wedding ring since`about the week after the ceremony

Mike Tanner

[sstreckfuss]

I have only been married 4 years but have never taken the ring off. I work 5 days a week on high voltage electric,
860 vdc, I am relegated to shop welder when it is something quick and non-structural (I am not certified). So far the ring has never had a electrical short but has suffered some welding slag with was buffed out by the place I bought the ring...I do thing it adds a degree of increased risk for ripping a finger off, getting a voltage arc etc... but so does working in the field I choose. I am not scared but do respect this choice.

[SLOB]

I wear my wedding band "almost" every day. I wear it tied on a leather cord around my neck, long enough to stay tucked inside my shirt at all times.

I do have to remove it sometimes at work when I am in packaging, an induction heater will do a number on any metal jewelry nearby (or so I've been told) I dont want to be the one testing out how close it really has to be.

at a previous job we had an induction heater for shrink fit tooling collets. while messing around we almost melted a Browne and Sharpe scale in about one second. it turned red and bent like well done pasta. imagine it was a ring on a finger.......that would be some serious burns.

Rob

[woodforge]

I can think of another danger from wearing a wedding ring that has nothing to do with blacksmithing! LOL

[Finnr]

Don't have a wedding ring. I do love rings however and NEVER wear one in the shop. I'm too fond of my fingers!
Finnr

[gerald]

Two ring stories:
(1) Back in the '70's I was in a towed artillery unit in Panama. We were in the field and one of my gun chiefs jumped off the back of a truck. His wedding ring hung and jerked the ring finger off at the middle knuckle. I thought he was going to bleed to death before the MEDEVAC chopper got there to get him to the hospital. His biggest fear : Being able to continue to play the bag pipes without the missing finger.

(2) Two friends of mine were loading an old flathead Ford engine into the back of a truck. As the chain from the hoist payed out, the engine rolled to one side and caught one's finger (with ring attached) between it and the sidewall of the truck bed. Ring was crushed onto the finger. Pretty painful. I wasn't there, but the other friend told me that trying to hold the hurt guy still while he cut the ring off was like wrestling an eel.

[Ted T]

Re: Rings v. Safety
I believe this is a valuable wake up call about wearing

[ThomasPowers]

Les see my Father managed to ground out a circuit with his wedding band; left a nice spark gouge in the ring and a circular burn on the finger.

I used to wear my ring in the shop; but holding tongs wore through them at a fairly fast clip---I have had 4 sterling silver wedding rings so far.

Now I tend to not wear it save on "social" occasions.

[Phil Patrick]

I am currently not wearing my band. I am on number 4. Destroyed the first three. My last one is made of titanium. Broke my ring finger 3 years ago, had to pull the ring off over the break. Couldn't wear it for 6 months. Tried again for a bit, recently bashed the same finger again, finger swelled, etc. I just gave up on it. It doesn't help that I am left handed so that hand is the first into battle too many times!!! My wife would rather me have my finger on than my ring.

[hdwarner]

i think you are missing one other reason not to wear your wedding ring in the shop.
don't you think it would be hard to pick up single women in the blacksmith shop if you have your ring on

[Phil Patrick]

Ha Ha Ha Ha!!! The only woman that hangs around my shop is my wife and she already knows all my pick up lines!!!

[ThomasPowers]

I think a soft metal ring would be preferable to get into trouble than a Ti ring---ifn they have to cut it off at the ER....

Hmm My wife says I wouldn't know what to do if I picked up a single women in my shop---she's wrong though I know I'd need to either put her back down or run like the devil for the mountains!

I used to modify my silver wedding rings when my fingers would get swollen. I'd put the ring on a polished mandrel and tap it larger with a polished hammer.

[Ten Hammers]

Thomas I have more than once cold forged a wedding ring back to round and over the years this works well. I have observed removals of rings in ER and it is a fairly simple procedure normally but sometimes is ugly.

[mcraigl]

Wore mine in half at about year 4, so I've been without one for 18+ years now. love Jewelry, have a nice Seiko watch that I wear all the time, except when I'm working in the shop. Then it comes off and either goes in a pocket or gets left on the nightstand.

[Nick]

I always take my wedding band off when I'm in the forge, mostly because it's .999 silver and tongs would wear right through it (plus a desire to not let it get caught on anything). One day while I was outside the shop I took it off and must have missed my pocket. Never saw it again, though I looked for months before I finally broke down and made a new one.

[Black Ink]

I was just at a safety meeting a week ago and I wish I had thw pic to show, but a man had slipped of a latter and caught his ring it peeled the skin back and wedged itself under the skin his skin looked like a loose sock.I've also had problems with chemicals reacting with the gold.I've been married 3 years and honestly cant tell you where my ring is.

[philip in china]

I was married for 20 years. Wore a wedding ring and never had any money for tools etc. Got divorced, stopped wearing the ring. Had money for tools again. A while later got married again. Wore a wedding ring and had no money for tools again. There seems to be a direct connection although I can't figure out how it works.