Apologies to all, my posting yesterday on the technique of removing
"stuck" rings has one missing word (my error). It should read, “The
objective is to squeeze the blood and tissue FLUID out of the
finger…” The bone, tendons, muscles and skin do, of course, stay
in the finger!
Please forgive my senility,
Dr. Mac
Use dental floss or a rather stout sewing thread. Hold the spool in your dominant hand with several inches of the floss hanging free and begin winding around the ring-finger starting as close as reasonable to the tip. The objective is to squeeze the blood and tissue out of the finger-UP into the hand.
David, I find this very interesting! I haven’t heard of using floss
before, but what a great trick! Thank you.
I think what is further interesting in your research, would be another industry being desperate enough to start a rumor like that just because they are threatened by the sales of Ti rings.
Holly, that’s what I thought as well. But might it be similar to
what happens with Platinum and Palladium? Granted people aren’t
starting rumors about Pd, but many are trying to concentrate on
selling their Pt rings, which probably bring in more $$, before
moving to Pd (taking into account, of course, the limits of Pd and
lack of customer’s knowledge about this “new” metal). Of course, I
could be wrong (it’s always a possibility).
How ever as I see it why make a ring out of something that hard to work anyway? I understand the concept of "because it's there", but are there any other more convincing rationales?
Thomas, a lot of customers want Titanium, Stainless, or even
Tungsten because of the darkness of the metal, some because of color
(Ti), the price, and the durability and resistance to scratching or
damage. I absolutely hated working with Ti sheet metal though because
it was so hard to saw (breaking multiple blades) and to form, IMO.
Catherine
that's what I thought as well. But might it be similar to what happens with Platinum and Palladium? Granted people aren't starting rumors about Pd, but many are trying to concentrate on selling their Pt rings, which probably bring in more $$, before moving to Pd (taking into account, of course, the limits of Pd and lack of customer's knowledge about this "new" metal). Of course, I could be wrong (it's always a possibility).
Rumors aren’t needed about palladium. It’s much less expensive than
platinum, which is it’s main drawing point. In most other respects,
it’s not quite the equal of platinum. It tends to be softer than
platinum, which can make things like prong settings less secure than
they’d be in platinum, and it dents and scratches more easily. I
wouldn’t expect a palladium ring to have as long a lifespan as a
platinum one. But then, it costs less, so a shorter life and lower
performance shouldn’t be unreasonable to the consumer if informed of
the differences. For the jeweler having to work with palladium, it
can of course be worked. But not as easily as platinum. You have to
contend with oxidation when heated (not hard to deal with, but still
extra effort in some cases), as well as some limits in how you work
it. For those of use who’ve gotten quite spoiled with being able to
work platinum with a laser welder, palladium can be a rude awakening.
With the laser, for example, I can easily retip or replace a worn
prong on a diamond without removing stones. if the ring is
palladium, sometimes I’m pretty much out of luck, or have to jump
through some much more time consuming hoops to do the job. From the
jewelers point of view, of course, these are simply limits in how to
work it, and what you can do with which technologies, and that is all
just part of the job. But for the consumer, it does mean their ring
might be somewhat less able to be repaired in the event it needed it,
and THAT might be a consideration they should take into account. The
same consideration, by the way, applies to rings in Titanium,
Stainless, Tungsten, Carbide, or similar non-traditional jewelry
metals.
We don’t need rumors. All we need is simply well informed sellers
and sales people, leading to properly informed consumers with the
truth, not rumors. Then they can make properly informed decisions.
cheers
Peter
When my wife worked in a nursing home I was called in several times
to remove rings from old people where the ring was stuck behind
arthritic joints and digging into the flesh. For the more
problematic cases where the ring was either too deeply embedded or
too hard to remove with a normal ring saw I used one of two
techniques. If the ring was of a normally cuttable metal, I used a
jewellers saw with the blade reversed, threading the blade between
the ring and the skin and cutting outwards. Where the rings were too
hard to do this, I carefully slipped one or two layers of thin steel
shim between the ring and the finger and cut the ring off with a
diamond disk in a battery powered Dremel, usually holding the hand
under water to keep it cool. I hate to imagine the reaction of a
confused old lady had I suggested putting her finger in a vise while
I tightened it up, or the possible trauma if the ring snapped
suddenly and dug into the finger…
Best wishes,
Ian
Ian W. Wright
Sheffield UK
Ian,
The rings we had to remove in the emergency were rarely of the oh
it’s been too may years and now we can’t get it off. But more of the
either the person had an accident and time was of the essence or the
person was experiencing generalized swelling and the ring had to come
off now.
Also most patients were a little more oriented to self, time and
place than a lot of long term care patients, so we were able to
explain what we were doing and why.
Different clientele = different approaches.
My suggestion of using a vice to ‘crack’ a carbide ring is based on
the fact that as compared to using a hammer or vice grips, there is
much more control over the force applied and comparatively 0 risk of
spring forward driving the ring fragments forward, however I must
admit I like the idea of using the dermal too. Knowing what I know
now (in reference to jewelry and how it’s made, materials and tools)
I would probably use your approach.
Which brings up an interesting idea… An article for a medical
publication or even local presentation to the local staff at teaching
rounds of our knowledge in how to deal with the different materials
and also how to remove a ring with the least damage so that it’s
repairable.
Kay
PS we used to dread having a long term patient transferred to the
emergency room for care as most were terrified and already panicking
from just the transfer, unfamiliar surroundings and people plus the
general bussnessies. Also needless to say the patient to staff ration
did not usually permit the kind of hand holding that these patients
needed, unfortunately. I am glad to hear that (in the case of the one
where your wife worked) the ring removals were handled with care and
compassion.