I’m getting married in May and was wondering what types of wedding bands can take the abuse of a daily job site. I don’t quite trust the advice from guys behind the counter in the jewelry stores. Thanks.
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Replies
My experience tells me that no ring is a whole lot better than having one run like hell! Just kidding seen a guy the other day with a ring tattooed on his finger after it heals you'll never know its there chances are you won't lose it either. My wedding ring drives me nuts never wore rings before and really can't stand it now want to chew my finger off so I don't have to wear it anymore!
Any 14k alloy will be rugged enough. Most rings are 14k or harder.
You could skip the ring on grounds of safety for sure. There's a thing called 'degloving' where the ring snags on a nail head and strips the flesh from the finger, like a glove, and all you have left is sinewy bone. Sheesh. Knock on wood all ye who read this.
On the other hand (har har), I wear a 'comfort' band whose inside surface is totally convex. Hasn't gotten me yet. Knock knock knock.
I also have a comfort band a little to comfortable though lost it at work about six months ago, got a new one for christmas though. Mine is also 14K the first one held up well only 2years though to early to really tell.
Do it right the first time, I am going to let you in information that could save you a fortune. I was married 9 years ago and chose platinum which held up well. It was lost when I took it off to wash my hands and I left it on the edge of a sink for 30 seconds. (Never do that!) Platinum holds up well but still scrathes easily and is heavy. My second was aerospace grade titanium. It is so light when you hold it in your hand you can hardly feel it. It scratches easily but is incredibly resilient and resistant to all chemicals and stains. When in Arizona a few years ago (Sedona) a display in an upscale jewelry store my wife dragged me into caught my eye(More on the hazards of that later!!!) It contained what has proven to be the ultimate contractor/tradesman wedding band. Tungsten. It is absolutely indestructable and even came with a wallet card to give to emergency workers so they can call or go on the web of the manufacturer to get removal instructions. It seems there is a tool in an ER for removing a wedding band and if you try it on solid tungsten it comes unglued. Mine has seen everything from concrete to all kinds of demo and the harshest chemicals and it still looks like a mirror. I think it is indestructable and I think it cost between 400-600. Thank God I didn't have to buy hers 3 times!
Good Luck, Scott
http://www.trewtungsten.com/faq.html
Edited 1/31/2006 6:14 am ET by scottthebuilder
http://www.trewtungsten.com/faq.html
Hey thanks for that link. I'm getting married in April and we still have to pick out our rings. I like the Tungsten-its different.
I dont wear any kind of jewerly as a rule but whats wrong with wearing your wedding band around your neck on a chain? You get a good quality chain and keep it under your t-shirt, wouldn't that keep it out of harms way?
Daniel Neuman
Oakland CA
Crazy Home Owner
I wear my ring on occasion at work as a scenic carpenter I take it off when I am rigging scenery. My choice was for a titanium ring it takes a beating bt still looks good also it is cheaper than tungsten. We paid $125 for it. Our shop is about 50/50 of ring wearers and non ring wearers. After reading these posts I may jump to the other side.
Mickey
Congrats and good luck. I didn't mean to start a de-gloving lecture. I wear mine on the first floor I make it a habit to clip it on a caribener on my bag when the ladders come out or I go up. I too have cleaned up a de-gloving scene. It gave me nightmares. Looked like a Monty Python skit with blood shooting out like a fountain. I was the woody/rooky (1986) and got to clean up. SAFETY FIRST AND FOREMOST Tungsten is still the toughest!!!!!!!!!!!
I won't wear my wedding ring, which ticks DW off.
But I think it's a safety risk, and it's not worth it. I've been around when a guy got his ring caught on something and ripped a bunch of skin off.
I screw up and get hurt enough - I don't need to invite more problems.
I dont wear mine either. Its very dangrous. Unless you think if you lose one you still have 9 more.
especially around electrical wires panels ectBuck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
A friend of mine lost his finger the same way. He fell, the ring got caught & the whole thing came right off.
I won't wear mine either - my dad got degloved moving a railroad tie - not pretty.
I think i'd almost rather lose the digit than have to put the skin back on like a sock.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
I wore a handmade, white gold ring until I fell from scaffolding, I reached up and caught the ring on a screw (was working on wooden boats), it stripped the flesh only to the first knuckle when the ring fortunately broke.
If you wear one, make it one that WILL BREAK. Tungsten scares me.
Gary
gwwoodworking.com
Like others have said, Standing in the Compound at Camp McGovern. Departing Infantry Dude jumps up on truck to load bags for ride to airfield. Jumps off. looks at hand, looks at sides of truck. looks at finger, with ring, hangning from stakebody, looks back at hand now with three fingers and a thumb, passes out. Six months in some landmine infested Shi#*&le and he gets hurt on his last day.
we had a lot of guys who refused to remove rings before that. Afterwards, not a ring in site.
When I worked in the trades I had a special place in my truck for my ring. It came off every morning and went there. End of day it went back on, just like the seatbelt.
even if you never catch it, the chance of getting it crushed and needing it cut-off is also very high.
I know some wives get worked up about this. I don't need a ring to remind me I'm married. I've got a $500 a month family truckster payment, and oh yeah $800 a month for tuition at a nice preschool and $..............................Well you get the picture. you'll hardly need that ring to remind you.
Ditto the military slant. I was combat engineer officer for 10 years. Our rule was no rings on fingers (for all the same reasons stated and gold also conducts electricity too well when are working with explosives).
To this day I take my wedding ring off and put in my wallet when I pick up a tool.
Like the others say... don't wear one. It's a real safety hazard. If the DW doesn't like it what does that say about her?
I used to wear mine and one day almost had the finger ripped off when it got caught on something.
I do wear it off the job and then put it on the key ring when I take it off.
Stu
Well, at 30 years it's a little early to say, but my plain, smooth gold band, 14 or 18 carat (I forget) and about 1/4" wide has held up pretty well. Not an every-day construction type, but have done my share of heavy work. It's gotten scratched a lot but had picked up a patina of sorts such that the scratches don't show.
One word of caution: A ring of any type can be a hazard if it catches on something. The classical case would be using a drill press without any sort of stop and having the workpiece grab and spin around. Another would be slipping and snagging something with the ring as you reach out to stop yourself. Under the right wrong circumstances (not all that unusual in, eg, a machine shop) the ring will tear all the skin and muscle off the finger, requiring amputation.
happy?
...... its a bad idea, unless you NEED to know what the heat from1,200,000 Watts feels like ........... before the breaker trips, cause Gold is an excellent conductor...
Actually, gold is a fairly poor conductor, but that much of it, spanning only an inch or so, can still draw a modest amount of juice -- enough to glow bright red for sure.Of course, a metal watchband can do the same thing, and is a much bigger "target". Definitely remove both ring and watch before working in any high-current area.
If ignorance is bliss why aren't more people
happy?
....."gold is a fairly poor conductor,....."compared to what ?
Silver, copper, aluminum, et al.
If ignorance is bliss why aren't more people
happy?
I'm not doubting you, I know nothing of the subject to be honest, but what's all the hype about those gold coated speaker wire and RCA connectors etc.?
Gold resists corrosion. but its still a great conductor. A mechanic friend was working on a farm tractor, as usual, and he heard a metallic sound hit the floor. A very short time later he noticed his ring finger burning. He had shorted between the battery and the terminal on the starter. The amperage melted the ring in 2 places and it had fallen to the ground.
Actually, on double-checking I see that gold is a slightly better conductor than aluminum, but significantly worse than copper or silver.The main reason for selling all those gold cables is to make money.The reason that the computer industry uses gold on internal connections is that it doesn't corrode (much), and hence there's less need to clean connectors. It's also relatively soft, which can be handy or not, depending on the situation.
If ignorance is bliss why aren't more people
happy?
what's all the hype about those gold coated speaker wire and RCA connectors etc.?
What the vendors for one of the suppliers told me once was that gold (almost) never corrodes, so there won't be any oxidation on the surface to interfere with mechanical connections. Which, allegedly, means any signal passed through those connections is more "pure."
Mind you, that sage wisdom was from a dealing trying to move a boatload of fancy, high-wholesale-cost connectors, too (cow-lick, grain-of-salt--just a matter of scale <g>).Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Gold is good for connectors because it's so resistant to oxidation. Copper and silver are the best conductors, but they oxidize which makes them not so good for removable connectors.
I wouldn't say gold is a BAD conductor though; it's better than aluminum but not as good as copper. See http://www.hrsb.ns.ca/program/eqa/curriculum/eng/science/9/SupplementaryPages/MetalsElectConductivity.htm.
Edit: Oops, thought I had read the whole thread but hadn't. Sorry for the duplicate answer!
Edited 1/31/2006 2:47 pm ET by mowog74
what's all the hype about those gold coated speaker wire and RCA connectors
Gold is among the best conductors, but is not the best conductor
http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/periodic/electrical.html
The primary benefit of gold over copper or silver is that it does not produce insulating oxide. In other words, it doesn't corrode or tarnish, as both silver and copper do. That's why it's used in electronic circuits.
And yes, the "monster cable" and "gold coated" speaker wire hype is just hype - makes no measurable difference in performance.
One common coating for electrical connections that need to withstand corrosion and have reasonable resistance is nickel. It has fairly high resistance, but because you only use a thin layers the resistance stays low.
Silver is a better conductor than copper. During WWII, because copper was used for munitions, the A-bomb project used silver wire in magnets. It was melted back in bullion after the war and returned to the Treasury.
Erich
.......no way is alum. better than gold,....alum is 4th in this race
From my high school science, albeit a dim memory at this stage in life, I thought Gold was a great conductor, just too expensive. Isn't it larger than copper? meaning a weaker bond with it's outermost electron? Aren't very high end stereo cable gold or gold clad for better conductivity?Let's not confuse the issue with facts!
Like some of the others, No ring at all at work, I have seen a guy catch a ring and dislocate his finger, looked quite painful to me.
No rings, no watches, nothing attached to me that can get held up on anything.
Congradulations on your impending wedding. Put the ring in a drawer. Do not wear jewelry if working in the trades. I wore a ring about six months, until I broke a finger because of it. Have your fiancee read a few of these posts, if she insists you wear a ring, marry someone else.
mike
Like many of the other posters, I won't wear a ring at work because of safety issues. Anywya, I chose a platinum ring with a hammered finish. It's pretty sharp looking and the finish will hide the dings and dents it bound to see under my watch.
Congratulations on your impending marriage. Seems kind of old fashioned in this day in age. Not much to add to the previous replies, I only wear my wedding ring, and a watch, when I am on vacation. Don't want to be late for the cocktail hour! My bride of 32 years reminds me that my behavior is what is important, with or without a wedding band on my finger. Roger
Basic shop safety taught in every high school, take off ALL jewlery before using any machine. Applies to work in the field too.
Got married 27 years ago and my ring sleeps in my wifes' jewlery box. I'll break it out for special occasions, but she understands why I don't wear it to work. Buic
i find all my rigs have to be 10 k gold or the wear out in no time flat , even so it still takes me only two years to nearly wear through a band before i have to have it reworked
another hazard of a ring is if you are allergic to bees don't get stung on a ring finger you either cut the ring real fast or loose circulation in the finger ( don't ask how i know this)
When I 1st started as a framer I was a newlywed and wore my ring to work. I noticed that none of the other guys wore there rings, but none of them ever mentioned why. then as the months passed in my new profession I started hearing stories. so I stopped wearing my ring. at 1st I would take it off and put it back on before and after work, but that became to much of a hassle as my fingers always seemed bigger in the morning then at night, plus I got worried I would loose it. So now for the past eight years it has sat in a drawer. like others, my wife was anoyed by me not wearing it. then one day a close friend of ours had his finger cut off and his thumb badly mangled when his wedding band got caught in the blade of his table saw and pulled his hand in when he was momentarily distracted.
my wife vowed never to harrass me for not wearing my ring again.
Ask her to read this post...I'm a married woman who has been farming & fixing stuff all my life. I don't wear my ring while doing those things, & finally talked my DH out of wearing his after he just missed getting hung up on a hay hook.
If either of you needs to wear a ring all the time to be married, maybe you should re-think what commitment means!
Dang, a woman AND a farmer ???If only you weren't married...(-:
Money can't buy happiness. But it sure makes misery easier to live with.
Even if she wasn't boss, wouldn't you still be. LOL
I don't wear a ring either. Ever since the accident. Mine was my own stupidity though.
I was talking to a guy on the floor while I was nailing trusses to a wall. Tap a nail, give it a good swat, and realize that the nail is between my finger and my ring. Had some snips thrown to me and then went to tell DW I would never wear a ring again.
She is fine with that choice. I think when you look at some people you can just tell they are married. I am one of those beaten down and broken people.
An inch to short. That's the story of my life !
bstcrpntr --- I hope to grow into this name.
"...when you look at some people you can just tell they are married. I am one of those beaten down and broken people."
That's the hardest I've laughed in a week....
(-:
There is absolutely no substitute for a genuine lack of preparation.
Hi, Boss -
Just tidying up my email, & found your note...just about 30 years too late, I guess!
Don't want to hijack the thread, but loved your bio. We'll talk about farming sometime...I both miss it terribly, & don't miss it at all, like late on a miserable winter night when all the neighborhood dogs are barking, & I realize it doesn't matter...we had sheep.
We had sheep when I was a kid. I always hated them. Still love farming though. Wouldn't know how to live away from the country.
Go with a nose ring, safer and more convenient for you future wife to get you in line.
Mr. T.
There's a steering-wheel in me pants and it's driving me nuts!!!
Ring on the finger makes a better lightning rod than one in your nose.
TRIGGER(diovorced).
Platinum is pretty tough, gold bands get fine scratches after while. I don't wear mine at work for safety reasons, had it get hooked coming down a ladder. Nothing major happened hurt my finger a bit but sacred me as to the possible landing I could have had from a 25' fall. I take mine off before I climb out of the truck in the morning and slip it back on when I'm heading home, works for me.
Jeff
I like wearing mine. I'm aware of the potential hazards. I'm proud of the simple, unadorned gold band that my wife put on my finger. I haven't gone more than five minutes without it on and suprisingly, it has been subjected to every conceivable abrasive material and caustic chemical on a jobsite and it still is relatively round and still softly shines.
FWIW, there is (or used to be, about 30 years ago) a company that sells/sold special "tear-away" rings (basically notched so they break easily), for people who work in semi-hazardous situations. I've never considered one, though, since I figured they'd be too easily damaged.
happy?
We have plain gold bands. My wife is perfectly OK with me not wearing mine at all, but I only take it off when I'm working. I have a spring hook on my key ring, and can snap it on or off the hook with the tip of my finger still in the band. That minimizes the risk of dropping it.
-- J.S.
I was on a job where a guy lost his balance on a 6' stepladder and nearly pulled his finger off getting it hung on a nail by the wedding ring.
I only wear mine off hours - beside that they will last much longer that way
A good jeweler can make your ring a breakaway with notches.'cept for the tungsten and stuff. Occasionally (more like rarely) I have to work inside a hot PLC controller box -- I always take a couple turns of tape around my ring -- I don't think it will ever come off anyway.
If the jewler is really good they can join the two halves of the wedding band with little tiny mortise and tenon joints ; > )
My late dad (store owner, not in the trades at all) had his rings grooved at the jeweler because had dislocated his finger once and the fire department had to cut it off - his finger had swelled over the years.
I don't wear rings on the job, and rarely off site, either. DW dosen't care, and I feel safer. It would take legislation to get my watch off me (Rolex).
Don't believe in hanging things around the neck when working on a job site, either. Leave it at home or in the truck.Quality repairs for your home.AaronR Construction
Vancouver, Canada
Edited 2/9/2006 9:33 pm by AaronRosenthal
I don' weaar mine at work,saw a guy jump off a loaded lumber truck one time and leave his finger laying on the ground- his band caught on a metal banding strap. didn't cut it off, ripped it out by the roots- couldn't be re attached. (ouch).
I'll add to the list of those who have cautioned against rings on the job.
My grandfather was a Catskinner, too. He left his ring finger on a dozer.
I've known of a few such instances.
Way back when, I spent several years picking up what was left of people professionally. We carried a ring cutter for those occasions when the ring wasn't the right shape anymore.
I wore an earrring as a wedding ring for a while until it came out on the job. Now I don't wear any jewelry at all. It's too dangerous around machines.
If you are married, you are married. The ring is a nice touch unless it gets you hurt.
A king can stand people fighting but he can't last long if people start
thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist (1879-1935)
No ring on this finger--The DW know I married her with my heart and the ring issue has never come up--Her father is an old time carpenter--Needles me about my air nailers,--but never about not wearing a ring on the job--She sees me with it on weekends and when we go so she know I still care about it---It is just she cares more about my hands-which support her and the children and it is a Small consestion to insure I keep myself as safe as possible.With all these post I can't see how she would make an issue of it but you never know---Congradulations on your wedding--Marry her with your heart and leave the ring in the medicine cabinet--Mike" I reject your reality and substitute my own"
Adam Savage---Mythbusters
Hi
I would not ware any kind of ring when doing any type of construction, or any manual labor.
I was a welder in a fabricating plant for many years. One day while changing wire on my wire feed welder , my wedding ring shorted out between the wire and a ground., It instantly turned red hot then started to melt.before i could get it unstuck. On this type of welder you have to have the power on in order to thread the wire through the guides.
One of my fellow workers lost a finger when he stepped off a train car while unloading steel. he caught his ring on something , there went his finger.
Needles to say the safety committee soon banned all rings and wrist watches in the shop.
When I was a Construction Millwright years ago, I nearly lost a finger when I dropped down into a conveyor and the ring caught the edge of a steel chute about a foot prior to my feet hitting the bottom.
I've never worn any kind of ring since.
Saw a conveyor mechanic one time who had his wedding ring on a chain around his neck. Seems a lot safer than around his finger. Kept the DW happy too.
Did that myself when I worked in the trades on a daily basis. Kept everyone happy. Just remember to keep the chain inside your shirt. Getting a ring on your finger hung on a piece of machinery wouldn't begin to compare with getting a chain on your neck hung up.
I've seen a picture from the Naval Safety Center of an entire finger and about 12" of tendon laying on a hospital tray. It's laying right next to the wedding ring that caused that Sailor to lose he finger when he fell off a ships ladder. Gross.
I, along with most other skinny little guys, have bigger knuckles than fingers, which means that any ring I can get on is loose on my finger. I don't wear it any more, which is a sore spot for my dear wife, but keeps my fingers all attached.