working with (wedding) rings

[Krokodil]

Anybody work with their rings on their hands? I've seen some bad pics of people's rings that got caught in something while working. The medical term is degloving, meaning only the bone is remaining and the flesh is ripped off. Have you ever thought of this?

 

[61scout80]

yes. that's why I have a hook on the garage side of the door that separates the house from the garage.

I also hang my keys on there, my dog used to have a bad habit of standing up against the door and hitting the deadbolt...

 

[dropride]

I've been wearing my ring everyday working on cars and haven't had a problem with it yet. Knock on wood.

 

[Torque1st]

Rings are dangerous. Do not wear one while working. I saw degloving happen once. Another really ugly wound comes from a short through a ring that cooks the finger. Handling super cold liquids can also freeze a finger off. Solvents and chemicals that get in under a ring can also cause nasty burns.

 

[cowboy73]

I always take my wedding ring off when working on something. One time I didn't take off and it got smashed down pretty hard and damn near cut my finger off. My dad works with explosives at a military base and no one is allowed to wear their rings anywhere near the stuff.

 

[shoot summ]

I used to wear mine 24x7, it was a narrow, low profile band. My wife got me a new ring about a month ago, thicker, wider, and much nicer. I don't wear it in the shop at all. I left it on last night when I was washing her car and noticed there was a possibility the ring could scratch her car so I immediately took it off.

It's a new process for me as I'm gone 29 years wearing the old one without removing it, I had a helluva "notch" in my finger from the old ring that still hasn't come out.

 

[Rockey]

Ive heard the horror stories as well. Unfortunatley it was after my misfotune. Removing a car battery and I had a ratchet wrench on the positive terminal and I kept my left hand under the ratchet wrenc to keep it from touching the negative terminal. What I forgot was that gold makes a great conductor and when the bottom of my ring touched the top of the terminal it completed the circuit. A dead shorted battery produces a lot of current and consequently a lot of heat. My ring finger was instantly burned with no way to remove what was now the heat source. I ran it under cold water and took a trip to the ER.

It took a few weeks to heal and it really doesn't look all that bad anymore. I was curious to see how the ER personal were going to remove the ring. It took about 5 shots of novacaine before they could get the cutoff tool in there to remove it. Boy, I heard lots of good stories about rings getting caught in machinery and fingers lost and so forth.

 

[Mattlt]

There are electrical hazards as well. Remember that gold is a very good conductor.

 

[purpony]

ill be married 6 years on saturday. The only time i ever wore my ring is on my honeymoon. I used to get hell for it for a while but now she never says a thing. I am always working on something that my ring could get caught on.... so i dont wear one.

 

[dmeadow]

When I was a kid there was a poster on the shop wall in high school that showed a dismembered finger with a ring on it and a looong tendon trailing behind it. Apparently someone got it caught in some machinery and it pulled off the finger and took a tendon on up through the arm. Obviously, I still remember that picture some 40 years later. I never wear a ring around machinery and rarely any other time.

 

[28HopUp]

yes. that's why I have a hook on the garage side of the door that separates the house from the garage...

That's a good idea. I think I'll put a hook by my bottle cap opener in the garage. I usually misplace my rings when I take them off in the house to work in the garage. Thanks for the idea!

 

[rsanter]

I dont wear a watch and used to take my ring off and put it on my keyring but I got too lazy for that and just dont wear it unless we go our or something
used to piss my wife off but she seems to have gotten used to it

bob

 

[toolchaser]

My Grandfather worked for the railroad. He never wore a wedding band that I could recall. After he died and we were cleaning out the house, we found it in a box in the closet. It was so mangled I don't know how they got it off his finger without cutting it

 

[GeorgiaHybrid]

My wedding ring stays on my keychain. It separates my house key from my toolbox key.

 

[Rudyjr]

ill be married 6 years on saturday. The only time i ever wore my ring is on my honeymoon. I used to get hell for it for a while but now she never says a thing. I am always working on something that my ring could get caught on.... so i dont wear one.

Thirty one years next month and the same story for me as well.My wife never really had a problem with it though. I have seen too many guys badly hurt that said that their wives insisted that they wear a ring.

 

[N8]

I have had mine re done three times because of welding slag.
They come off when doing anything else.

 

[Grumpy365]

I always wear it, BUT I KNOW BETTER

 

[z28snksknr]

My uncle hit his finger with his MIG when he was welding under a car. He said the ring glowed and he ripped it off his finger and threw it across the garage, degloving his finger in the process. I saw it 4 weeks after it happened and it looked like an inside out sausage.

Luckily, I jsut lost my wedding ring, so I don;t have that hazard anymore, although the wife is not thrilled about it at all.

 

[walrus]

I had a ring ripped off my finger, thankfully the weld broke and it came off without any damage to my fingers. My wedding ring was worn on my wedding day, hasn't been on since

 

[tatra]

one thing about my ex was she understood my aversion to jewllery given my vocation and was happy when i remembered to wear on it special occasions.........when she saw a pic of a degloved finger she just hugged me and nothing more needed to be said............

 

[wrench409]

Wow, seems a lot of guys have had this issue. I have not. As a safety monitor at work and seeing the damage that can be done, I don't wish to have a finger torn or burnt.

And another shock/burn hazard is of course metal watch bands. Watch out for the same issue!

Be safe!

 

[DaleK]

Same here, I don't wear mine. Wife's uncle is a volunteer firefighter, when he was a newlywed he was hurrying down the ladder from the top of the pumper at a fire and left his ring and finger both at the top

 

[930dreamer]

I never take it off unless I need surgery.

 

[kbs2244]

I will be married 45 years next year.
It was understood before the ceremony, no jewelry for me.
I don’t wear rings, watches, chains, nothing.
(Neckties to church though.)

I still have all my hands, fingers, etc.
I have banged up a few, but I still have them.
I also keep my hair short and wear short sleeve shirts around machinery.
(I guess it comes from having a mechanic for a father.
Too many bad stories around the dinner table.)

 

[737mechanic]

Been married 20 years and have never wore my wedding ring. All I had to do was show some of the pictures of guys fingers ripped off to the bone and burned off from electrical short and she understands now. Plus I am one of those guys that can't stand wearing stuff. I don't wear a watch either.

 

[trbomax]

When i was 20 or so I was working with a guy that lost his ring finger.My dad was a tool & die maker and always took his off at work.When I got married in 1973 , she knew the ring would be off the next day. I havent owned a watch ,or any other jewelry since I was in high school.Funny thing is that the wife worked in the fab shop with me and about 6 months after we were married,her's came off too.She still works with me,but only on hobby projects now and niether of us wear rings or any other jewelry.We do get some funny looks sometimes though, I guess people that dont know us just figure we are "live ins" !

 

[StriderTB]

My Grandfather was an HVAC man, and had a water heater explode on him back in the 60's. He had to have his band cut off, but it was repaired.

I usually take mine off if I'm under the hood.

 

[oldtractors]

Wore my ring for a week, which was longer than she expected. I am not even sure where it is stored now. Wife never said anything but after 10 years of not wearing it she told me her uncle lost his finger when the ring caught as he jumped off a tractor.

 

[barney rubble]

Been married 34 years this December and dont even own one anymore.

 

[Walterchang]

A former co worker of mine used to wear a ring but I got scratched up and beat down so much he eventually stoped wearing it. Instead he tattooed a ring on his finger. It gets worn off after years working with your hands, but I thought it was a cool idea.

 

[srmofo]

for the love of god, do not google images "degloving". Appearently it can happen to the ***** also. Im usually pretty good about removing mine but I will always take it off now

 

[Chestrockwell]

Got married last year; got a tattoo on the finger instead of a ring. Cheaper than gold.... Never in the way.

CC

 

[gorilla]

A married mad doesn't need to wear a ring to remind him that he's married, all he needs to do is look in his wallet,

 

[Motown 454]

KBS2224 I'm with you. When i was 18 I worked with my brothers on a construction site . We were going home at the end of the day, we rode in a rack body truck it would slow down to drop a few guys at a time. My brother went to jump off, his wedding ring cought on a nail sticking out of the rail and for a split second he was hanging on by a couple of finger we grabbed him in time to save him but that did it for me no jewelry.

 

[HOTFR8]

My wife never gave me a wedding ring, but in the past I have had similar problems with wristband watches so I now have a watch that clips to my belt. My wife with her work mostly wears her engagment and wedding rings on a nice chain round her neck.

 

[dankicksass]

Six years ago, I broke my hand in the sort of fashion that required multiple surgeries and a lot of physical therapy, and I saw a lot of guys in bad situations at PT but nobody was more embarrassed than the guy who had a ring incident. The guy who cut his hand in half twice broke his balls pretty hard over it too.

 

[scarrylarry]

Personally I don't wear any jewlery,I have some but it's just too risky.I have a watch but don't wear it when working on anything.Long hair, long sleeves as previously mentioned is a no no.I think the fellas who wear a necklace should give that some thought also.Safety First!
scarrylarry

 

[scarrylarry]

Personally I don't wear any jewelry,I have some but it's just too risky.I have a watch but don't wear it when working on anything.Long hair, long sleeves as previously mentioned is a no no.I think the fellas who wear a necklace should give that some thought also.Safety First!
scarrylarry

 

[dumper]

was married 7 years, and never even bought one, because of all the reasons mentions. Also, I do not wear any jewelry. Worked out fine in the end...no more wife! Hahahaha.

 

[rwhite692]

Never wear one when working.

One particularly easy way to get a ring caught is on a piece of wood while sliding your hand along it (or while a wooden object is sliding through your hand)...a small splinter catches under the ring and as it travels in, only gets rapidly fatter as the splinter "angle" pulls deeper into the wood.

Really, really nasty, have seen it..... firsthand (pun intended).

The obvious electrical hazards when working on equipment also should be enough of a reason to avoid wearing a ring, as well...