# question for married mechanics



## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

do you married mechanics wear your wedding rings while you work?
doesn't the metal conduct electricity and pose a danger while working on a vehicle? what about damage from bashing or scraping it on stuff?


----------



## Northman (Jan 26, 2005)

I wear my wedding ring 24/7 and will for life. But I have it tattoo'd on my finger.
I wore one off and on for first few years but always seemed to misplace it. I have seen horrible things happen to fingers from wedding rings.


----------



## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

absolutely never.....the day we got back from our honeymoon trip it went,,it went,,,,,,,well, i think its locked away in a trunk somewhere around here. i have (personally) seen too many fingers lost, burnt, trapped because of ring /watches.


----------



## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

could you be more specific? burnt, trapped, etc. how?
electricity conduction? how would a finger with a ring get trapped in the bowels of a car? if it is skin tight, wouldnt you just lose skin otherwise?

what horrible things have you seen?


----------



## stranger (Feb 24, 2008)

I wore mine for 40 yrs, even broke and tore up my finger when it got caught getting out of a pay loader once . now my finger has grew around it. this is a replacement from 1984.


----------



## Northman (Jan 26, 2005)

here's an example (Caution it's nasty)

http://blufiles.storage.live.com/y1...KJrONDsRhMxqMez3sJFOKMGZorWuK34esNxmsAXlvM6NM


----------



## stranger (Feb 24, 2008)

looked like mine when i jumped out of the payloader, 200 pounds hanging on a piece of gold.


----------



## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

wow! thats rough. jeez!


----------



## michiganfarmer (Oct 15, 2005)

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> do you married mechanics wear your wedding rings while you work?
> doesn't the metal conduct electricity and pose a danger while working on a vehicle? what about damage from bashing or scraping it on stuff?


I wore my wedding ring for my wedding day, then I put it on my key ring where it has been for 16 years because I got married when I was in the marine corps. I was a tank mechanic. They told me not to wear it when I was wrenching because of the possible injuries that can occur.


----------



## Ross (May 9, 2002)

I always caught mine on ladders and yeah the ring gets beaten up terriblely. Haven't worn mine in 16 years.


----------



## wdchuck (Jun 24, 2007)

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> could you be more specific? burnt, trapped, etc. how?
> electricity conduction? how would a finger with a ring get trapped in the bowels of a car? if it is skin tight, wouldnt you just lose skin otherwise?
> 
> what horrible things have you seen?


Lose some skin?, you say that like its no big deal. Getting filleted by a piece of jewelry is no picnic, and for what, to ease someones fears. Seems to be an underlying issue here. 

The ring is a symbol, sure, but its the heart/soul/conscience that matter, my wedding ring has seen daylight on rare occasions, took it off the day we came back from the honeymoon, my wife is not worried, and she stopped wearing hers years ago as well, doesn't bother either of us. 

I hope you two find a compromise that works for the both of you.


----------



## DaleK (Sep 23, 2004)

I don't wear mine at all. My wife's uncle is a volunteer firefighter, he wore his until he jumped down off the top of the ladder on the pumper at a fire and left his ring and his ring finger behind, hooked on the top of the ladder. Got a couple of other friends who've also lost their ring fingers because of them.


----------



## -TWO- (Mar 25, 2008)

Wear mine to church & when Wife & I go out on a "date" ( Really makes her day to see it on my finger). Otherwise it lives on a shelf in the bathroom.


----------



## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

its safer to wear the ring though the nose than to work on a car with one on your hand....


----------



## ace admirer (Oct 5, 2005)

i have a scar on my left hand index finger just a little one....it is always being caught and cut in tight spots....now a scar is way more skin tight than a ring.

a metal ring or watch with 1800 amps of 12 volts from a car battery will turn yellow hot in about 1.5 seconds... a fellow worker lost a finger to that ,,,no way they could save the tissue.

another buddy had his ring caught on a overhead job, lost his finger.

one to a conveyor belt drive, 

one had his ring crushed in an industrial pinch point.. we did not have a ring remover at that plant....the hospital did, but the lack of blood flow for the 30 minutes caused a kinda long recovery period. 

a student of mine (not at the time of the accident) had his ring catch in a part he was turning in a lath...wound him up and broke his arm...

so thats about it for my experience. most plants will not allow any ornaments, or loose clothing for close mechanical work...


----------



## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

wdchuck said:


> I hope you two find a compromise that works for the both of you.


HA!! Im not married. It was just a conversation with a friend so I thought I would ask here.


----------



## fixer1958 (Dec 12, 2005)

Have had it on for 22 years minus 2 months. Got a replacement because the old one got to thin and was cutting into my finger. I had to cut it off because my skin had grown around it. 

I have hung it on a few things and a short out here and there.
Just makes me real conscious of where put my hand.

I can understand you other guys and your jobs. It's a matter of preferance I guess. I won't stick my hand anywhere I know it's not coming out the same other than the normal blood letting from cuts and nicks. 

Two fingers on my right hand look alot different than the others because of an infraction like that. Real eyeopener for a young guy. Not that young anymore and I will never take my ring off and I'm left handed.


----------



## Beeman (Dec 29, 2002)

No rings, no jewelry. Seen many get hurt because of them. Had an uncle with no ring finger on his left hand, took his advice.


----------



## DaleK (Sep 23, 2004)

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> HA!! Im not married. It was just a conversation with a friend so I thought I would ask here.


Hark! The sound of single mechanics stampeding to their PM boxes.

Good thing I'm married.


----------



## Ivy DragonWind (Nov 20, 2006)

I have met quite a few couples who got their rings tattooed. One was a medic who worked under sterile conditions and jewelry was off-limits, her husband did body work and was always catching it or scratching paint jobs. They have gorgeous Celtic knot work for bands.


----------



## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

When I was in the navy I almost left a finger on the ladder down to my shop. 
I haven't worn one at work since.
I discussed this with my current wife and she understands. I keep my ring on a holder on her nightstand and only wear it on my weekends off if at all.


----------



## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

I wore my wedding ring for the first few years but took it off after countless snags and bruises. I constantly caught the ring on the rabbit cages when I was cleaning, and spent many hours icing down my swollen ring finger. When I picked up auto mechanics as a hobby, the ring came off permenantly as I didn't fancy the idea of the ring catching on something, especially while working on a well-warmed up engine. I got so used to not wearing it that it ended up in a ring box and has been missing for over 10 years.


----------



## Ed Norman (Jun 8, 2002)

I take mine off frequently to work on stuff, plus I don't want it growing to me. I showed DW the pictures posted above and she said I should take it off more. 

I always bend mine when lifting heavy things. I keep a Morse taper adapter handy to get it round again.


----------



## gunsmithgirl (Sep 28, 2003)

I take mine off when I work on the car and when I am running machinery. 
Tried to wear it at first, but scrubbing grease and scrudge out of that little diamond is a pain, and I am always scared of breaking the diamond off and losing it.


----------



## beowoulf90 (Jan 13, 2004)

When my lovely wife and I were married almost 29 years ago we bought fancy and expensive rings. Mine has 5 diamond chips in it alone.. and is white gold. I wore it for the first week or so and only put it on occasionally now. The reason for this is when we were married I was in the Airborne and working on artillery pieces, not a good idea to wear a ring. Then after I left the military I went to work as a miller in a flour mill, again not a good idea to wear a ring around all the machinery.. She doesn't wear hers because she was working as a cook and baker and all that dough in her rings just wasn't good... So now we have a pair of barely worn rings with diamonds and gold..but we have memories of a lifetime... I'll leave the ring off and take the memories...


----------



## MariaAZ (Jun 5, 2007)

beowoulf90 said:


> So now we have a pair of barely worn rings with diamonds and gold..but we have memories of a lifetime... I'll leave the ring off and take the memories...


Wonderful sentiment! I had a co-worker who gave me grief once for not wearing my wedding ring. I told her if I needed a ring to remind myself that I'm married then maybe I shouldn't be married in the first place


----------



## MushCreek (Jan 7, 2008)

Working in machine shops my whole life, I never wear jewelry. Many places prohibit it. The problem is, if I wear it on the weekend, I forget to take it off. Come Monday, I throw it in my toolbox- not a good thing. So it lives at home.


----------



## mightybooboo (Feb 10, 2004)

Gold is soft,you can cut a ring off easily with side cutters,and you can get to them even if they are tightly on the finger.Easier than a ring cutter actually.


----------



## Rocky Fields (Jan 24, 2007)

Hey.

My wife makes me wear my wedding ring thru the nose;-)

RF


----------



## n9viw (Jan 30, 2005)

Wow, good God Northman, that WAS gruesome. 

I wear mine when working, but usually slip it off at some point, more to keep from scratching it or grubbing it up than to prevent injury. There's some delicate detail that's just worn off from wearing it, rubbing it up against skin and fabric and whatnot... by the time I'm old it'll be about smooth, but I want it to stay as nice as I can. Probably best way to do that is to keep it OFF!

I always said, "I have too many 'tattoos' already" (scars from working on stuff, stitches, etc), but I think if Pony would be good with it, I could sit for my one-and-only tattoo of a ring on my ring finger, to save the finger! I've always heard what I've considered 'scare stories' about damaged and missing fingers from ring accidents, but whoof, I'm a believer now!


----------



## Gideon (Sep 15, 2005)

Been married 32 yrs and have seldom been without one. My first was a nice wheat scrolled gold one that soon wore to nothing. Picked up a stainless flat plain ring that fits vey snuggly. It often gets bent and I just take pliers and reshape it. In the Marines as a mechanic we were not allowed any rings. Have seen pics of dropped fingers when they got shorted on 24 volt systems. I2 will do the same. My wife's aunt lost her ring finger on a nail in a loft when she tried to jump out. They are not safe but like someone above I try to be very careful where I put my hands. wc


----------

