Removing a ring from finger.

Morticians use the string trick. My dad was wearing his wedding band, as he had always done since being married. Never one time removed it. But Mom wanted it and saw no need to bury it with him, so the funeral director assured her they would retrieve it before closing the casket the last time. I asked later how, and that is what they told me. Must be pretty quick and discreet, as they did it right in front of everyone.
 
Reminds me of a couple of peddlers that came into my shop one summer afternoon. Forget what they were selling, but I ended up giving away an old CRT television I had stored away, and noticed one of the guys had a stuck ring. Had been stuck a few days and was looking kind of bad. He was in some pain and it looked dangerous to me. His circulation wasn't good in that finger. So I offered to cut it off (not the finger! Well, I did joke about that). It was a nice ring, fairly, so I didn't want to just get my end nippers or carbide tile nippers and mutilate it (the ring), so I had him lay his hand across a mill vice and after clamping the ring gently, took a jewelers saw and split it at about 45°. The kerf was thin, and could be easily soldered back together so he could get it resized. Nothing to it.

Now, you can buy some pretty fancy carbide rings, so the EMT's (you guys feel free to chime in) had to adapt methods to crack them, unlike the standard ring cutters they usually carried. I always thought a pair of vise-grips properly adjusted would do the job with low risk to the finger, but what do I know?. I don't wear jewelry any more. Sometimes a wristwatch, but even that has a stretch band instead of a clasp, and never while working the machines. It lays on the desk.
 
The dental floss thing looked painful - saw that a few months back when my 5 year-old got a "ring" jammed on his finger (a charm/pendant thing). Of course I saw it after I hacksawed it off his finger - an act that required great patience, lol. Used a hacksaw blade without the saw, needle-nose vise grip holding it. Took 45 min. :) Good luck!!

I had to read this twice, the first time I got 'after I hacksawed off his finger' URGH!!!
I removed a ring for my young daughter a long time ago, I used compound side cutters to cut the ring with a feeler guage between the ring and finger.
 
You guys are scaring me, LOL.

Will hit the dental-floss trick in a few days, and combine it with Windex.
 
I had a surgeon demand that the anesthesiologist remove my wedding ring from my left hand before he would operate on my right shoulder. The guy used the dental floss trick. Was never able to get the ring on again. :(

Ken
 
It sounded like that guy was in pain didn't it...lol but it worked... Reminds me of the time the wife wanted me to wax my hairy back as we were going on a cruise. She ordered some wax from a TV commercial and on their instruction video there was this guy and as she ripped off the cloth he smiled. When she started to do my back It was one of the most painful experiences I had ever felt....lol I was hurting and laughing as i was thinking of that big guy smiling. He had to have been stoned out of his mind. LOL Scroll through the first part toominute 3...to 5 min mark...lol....of this and watch the guy squirm when she starts to pull off the hair....
there are several guys on You tube who regretted getting there back waxed....LOL
 
I've had to cut quite a few rings off in the medical field. Mostly due to acute injuries and we need to get it off right now. If there is no hurry, restrict your SALT intake for a few days along with less fluids as already mentioned. Any light lubricant along with the string trick usually works. Most jewelers also have ring cutters. Easy to go in and have it removed and repaired in one trip.
The only issue I've seen is the increased popularity of the tungsten based rings. Most ring cutters won't work on them. We wind up shattering them with a pair of double jointed shears used in ortho surgery.
 


This works well, my wife has done it several times when her hand has swollen and she can't get her ring off.

You may also want to look into having the ring resized if you want to be able to easily put it on and take it off. That is what my wife did after acknowledging that her fingers were just bigger than when she was in her 20s.

I physically can't wear a ring, it would drive me crazy. Luckily my wife grew up around ranchers and others who work with equipment, so a guy not wearing a wedding ring was pretty normal to her, and not seen as an attempt to sneak around behind her back.
 
I've helped people with the string/floss trick. Worked well and they said it didn't hurt. I've also seen a jeweler use a ring cutter to remove one and they were able to resize and fix it without issues. I imagine that wouldn't work on tungsten or titanium though. I like mine just tight enough to not fall off, so I can easily remove it. I work on a lot of things that would cause issues if it were to catch, and my wife grew up on a farm so isn't bothered by it.

I wouldn't go to a hospital for it, they would probably charge you enough to buy a new mill just to cut it off. :)
 
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