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I Forge Iron

Do you wear rings while blacksmithing?


Glenn

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Do you wear rings while blacksmithing or forging? Have you had any problems while wearing a ring? Is it or could it be a safety issue?

 

 

Many years ago I quit wearing rings for several reasons,

1) The chemicals in photography preferred to dissolve gold before it would dissolve the  silver.

2) A piece of wire somehow got under the ring and nearly ripped the skin off my finger by puling on the ring.

3) I caught my hand in a pinch situation that flattened the ring on my finger. Had to take a hammer and try to make room so I could get my finder out of the ring. Finally with spit, liquid soap, and a lot of effort, the ring was removed from the finger, which was a strange shade of gray blue..

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I do wear my rings (plain silver band on my left pinkie, plain gold wedding band on my right ring finger), but I know that I really shouldn't. The one on the left hand isn't so much of an issue when smithing, as it's almost always under a glove, but I do sometimes worry about the one on the right catching on something. The problem is that I was really skinny when I got married, I haven't taken it off for many years, and now my finger is so much thicker that I can't get it off (and trust me, I've tried everything short of cutting it off with a pair of bolt cutters).

The biggest problem I have with any degree of regularity is when some grit gets trapped under one of the rings and wears a hole in the skin before I notice it. 

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I have only ever worn one item of jewelry, my gold wedding ring. Over the years the palm side wore thin untill the day when I was lifting something heavy and my grip deformed it. I managed to take it off straight away no problem. It was consigned to a chain and my wifes has worn it as a necklace ever since, I've never had a replacement.

Some years ago a workmate dismounting from the bed of a pickup managed to get his wedding ring caught on some protrusion or other, the ring was fine, still fitted his finger perfectly as it hung from the truck devoid of him!

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My wife bought me a tungsten band that would shatter theoretically if it got stuck, but I never wear any jewelry of any kind in the shop.  My father, a machinist, drilled into me from a early age that jewelry=bad.  In 63S training in the military they showed us a bunch of crypt-keeper bone only fingers as JHCC said where folks got their rings caught.  I like my digits.

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Not married, but I take off ring/s if I'm working with my hands in general, especially because my hands swell easily.  I had a bee sting earlier this year that would of did me in if I had a ring on.  My hand swelled to about twice the size! 

Note:  As long as there's no blood, many jewelry stores will do this as a complimentary service.  Just bring it back to them (the gold, silver, or platinum ones) to be re-sized. 

What follows is not medical advice or instructions, just my experience as a jeweler:

To remove rings there are several methods and most of them rely on other people doing one of these procedures: 

First off, if one has a compression band from a dust mask, they can try wrapping it around their finger to compress the swollen digit.  If that doesn't work there are ring cutters that will slip under ones ring. This style generally only cut gold, silver, and platinum and it's a grip and turn procedure.  The gripping applies pressure to the blade and the turning rotates the blade.  Remember, this just cuts the ring off, it still needs to be expanded to come off the offending finger. 

If one ever needs to remove tungsten rings, they need to be removed by gently cracking around the circumference.  There's a specialty cracker for these as well, but a pair of gently gripping vice grips will work in a pinch. 

For titanium, that's a different animal and I've heard that bolt cutters will work. 

After successfully cutting the ring, the procedure to expand the ring is as follows:  basically take 2 pairs of jewelers chain nose pliers (or thin, bent-nose snap ring pliers) and slip the jaws on either side of the opening with the palm up, fingers extending, and resting on a table being careful not to impale the finger.  If the ring or band is really thick, then sometimes flat nose along with chain nose can give better leverage.  Very carefully grab the ring securely with the pliers and pull away from the cut, like opening a book. 

Note: The post and the information contained therein is made available by the author for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide medical advice and should not be treated as such. 

 

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No dont wear rings because of the risk of getting gloved, having said that I did nearly exactly that a few weeks back when a fishing trap rope got caught around 2 fingers while our boat was in gear, other end was tied to a tree.

Nearly took the finger,  fortunately when I realised what was happening I had the presence of mind to lock down on the rope with both hands and let it drag me through the boat. Still off work due to the infection I ended up with in my damaged shin, but I still have the finger (very lucky the finger healed up cleanly) .

I consider myself very very lucky, cut 3/4 of the way around the finger, but didn't damage the blood flow, tendon or nerves.

If I had been wearing a ring, I suspect it would have been worse. It only takes a second for something to go wrong.

 

finger1.jpg

finger2.jpg

finger3.jpg

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okay children......here is a story from Way Back.....(sorry Mr Peabody) ....in high school I was wearing my class ring and while playing basketball went to make a dunk.....ring got caught in the net and I hung there until my team mates picked me up enough to get loose....think I still got the scar.....I don't wear any jewelry  nowadays but that's a different epic

 

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I have started removing my wedding ring at the forge, not because I'm worried about it getting caught or crushed, but because I'm a lefty. Because I swing my hammer with my left hand, I end up with some seriously deep bruising on my middle finger from the ring. 

Any other leftys deal with that, or am I just an oddball? It wouldn't be the first time if I am.

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I don't wear my rings unless we either have guests or I'm going out for a social gathering. I also always take off my necklace when I go to work not necessarily for safety reasons since the string is thin enough that it should break under some tension, not that I'm willing to risk it though, but because I like my necklace and I want to own it for as long as I can 

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I'm in the same boat as Frosty. I take mine off when I remember. Problem is that I really never notice it's there and forget about it. i've thought about getting one of those bands made of silicone to replace mine with. You can get a variety of colors too. At least if you catch it on something it won't (or shouldn't) rip your finger off. 

 

https://qalo.com/

 

https://ensorings.com/

 

http://www.saferingz.com/

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