Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello!

I found this sub-forum to be the most approprioate for my question.. But I wonder what the risks are when welding while wearing wedding ring and other jewelry... I heard it can ground, but how would this happen in real-life and how do I avoid this risk?

Serious question (couldnt find good information online about this issue.. Only some urban legends.)

Thanks guys!

//Zachy

Any OSHA 10-hr class will tell you NOT to wear jewelry at all (stud earrings are the lowest risk), but such rules come into existance because some idiot did something incredibly stupid, and had a serious injury.

The only jewelry I wear at work is my wedding band, and I don't take it off to weld. Gloves are adequate protection for most processes, and even HFAC will only shock the crap out of you if you somehow try to arc up closer to your ring than the metal you're welding. The biggest risk would be where there is a risk of a crush injury, where your finger will swell and the ring must be cut off to restore circulation.

I frown on hanging jewelry, for the same reason long hair should be tied back... having a grinder get hold of it.

I discourage watches, partly because the radio noise from an arc can damage them, partly because a process with spatter, like MIG or stick, spatter will screw up the crystal, or stick to a metal band and burn you (I've done it).

However, most of the crap you hear, is just that... crap. Exercise common sense, think about the risks, and weld on!

Steve S

Hey,

The big on i think about with a wedding ring is that it may get caught on something and do real damage to your finger. The case i remember is when a guy jumped down off a job (substitute stumbled, because you shouldnt be jumping) and his ring grabbed on the lip at the top, and simply popped his finger off.

The best bet is not to wear it at all, if the missus is so insecure that you cant leave it in the jewelry box while you're at work, you;ve got bigger problems.

Mick

I've never had a problem with my wedding band, but I was working inside the dash of a truck with a metal watch band on and it touched across the two terminals on the voltmeter and welded istself there. It turned cherry red in short order with my wrist still in it, I still have scars around my wrist from that.

Like Mick said, I know a guy who slipped on a ladder on the back of a gasoline tanker he was working on and took his ring finger off completely.

Len

I agree that common sense can help you not get injured.

But I also know several people who have been injured because of their wedding band.

One grounded it between the battery terminal and the fender.

The others were the standard finger crush and hooking it on stuff.

I don't wear rings in the shop.

your better off leaving it at home
John

I've heard more about "welding accidents" then I've heard about welding
Seem like we keep coming up with "new" ways to injure ourselves/others
John

And Zacky, welcome to the forum, as this is your first post.
Be safe,
John

Thanks for your replies.. I was worried because I have a Prince Albert (If you dont know I'll spare you the googling process and tell you its a piercing through my Johnson's Shaft..)

So I am really scared getting that thing grounded if you know what I mean :/

I wish you would have told us that first so I wouldn't have wasted my time with a reply. If you were my son and you had that done I would hook my jumper cables up to it and watch you squirm. What an idiot.

Len

zachy wrote:Thanks for your replies.. I was worried because I have a Prince Albert (If you dont know I'll spare you the googling process and tell you its a piercing through my Johnson's Shaft..)

So I am really scared getting that thing grounded if you know what I mean :/

So using common sense to save you from injury is out the window....

if you get that thing grounded ANYEHERE... you are doing something wrong

A friend of mine has the "Prince Albert". One April Fools' day, at an industrial site, he stuck a length of bent up SS TIG rod through it, poured a little ketchup on it, and ran into the safety man's office holding it!

Priceless!!!



BTW, that piercing is no more likely to get you shocked than the metal zipper on your jeans, and if you snag it on something, you have an odd welding technique, to say the least!

Steve S

Otto Nobedder wrote:A friend of mine has the "Prince Albert". One April Fools' day, at an industrial site, he stuck a length of bent up SS TIG rod through it, poured a little ketchup on it, and ran into the safety man's office holding it!

Priceless!!!



BTW, that piercing is no more likely to get you shocked than the metal zipper on your jeans, and if you snag it on something, you have an odd welding technique, to say the least!

Steve S

Damn, bet he had a heart-attack while being grossed out..

Thanks for the reply though!

If someone ran in holding that with a piece of wire sticking through it I would pass out from laughing

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

Hey,

Funny, i was actually going to mention the prince albert.

A guy (welder) i know has (had) one, kind of awkward when his dad spotted it on the xray after a serious car accident.

Mick

Weldin mike27, in regards to the watch under the dashboard, i did the same thing! The band crossed two terminals and, instant second degree burns! Bad memory...

Sometimes you just have to use what the man up stairs gave us. I how sometimes its hard to do in some of the jobs that we do . That's why I don't whare my ring while I'm working.

I don't own a ring of any kind. A long time ago I was doing something I now know I shouldn't have done. It involved a big tip on an oxy/acetylene torch melting enough steel to drip in gobs. Not a wise thing to do anyway, even less wise to have my wrist in the way. After it blobbed under my watch, flattened out stuck there, I yanked the watch off, pulling flesh with it. I can still envision the exposed white bone the shape of the watch. No blood! I'm more careful now.

Ouch, Bill that had to hurt!!

I knew a guy who said in all his life he only ever felt real pain twice.
The first time was when he was repairing fencing on a cattle station when he got the call of nature. So he squatted behind a likely tree promptly lowing his samosas into a dingo trap...

AKweldshop wrote:Ouch, Bill that had to hurt!!

Only the first few minutes, The doctor said I killed the nerve endings.

zachy wrote:Thanks for your replies.. I was worried because I have a Prince Albert (If you dont know I'll spare you the googling process and tell you its a piercing through my Johnson's Shaft..)

So I am really scared getting that thing grounded if you know what I mean :/

Maybe you'll get it hooked up the the HF TIG start one day.... Anything can happen. I watched a YouTube video on it. Looked pretty painless (sorry, I meant brainless)

As far as wedding bands are concerned these days you can get a silicon one that just snap off if they get caught on equipment. I had a friend of mine get a relief cut done on his wedding ring, that way if he snagged it on equipment it would bend out and come off.

I've seen a few, and heard of far too many accidents from jewelery/watches/wedding rings to even consider wearing anything when doing power tool related work.

Military work required that everything be secured, nothing worn when doing even low voltage electrical work as well, which just reinforced my habits about jewelery.