In the last issue, Rob shared the story of why he now wears a silicone wedding ring (after losing a tungsten one in a pile of sawdust).
A couple of readers had some empathy. – Editor
“Reading your story about losing your wedding ring in a pile of sawdust reminded me of my story.
“A number of years ago, I had recently lost a lot of weight and I was demonstrating woodturning for my local club at a wood show. After I finished roughing out my bowl, I was wiping the dust off my clothes when I realized my ring had fallen off (yeah, I know… I shouldn’t have had my ring on in the first place). Now, you have to realize there were about five lathes in operation in the booth and there was a quite a pile of shavings on the floor. It’s surprising how wood-coloured shavings are very similar to the colour and shape of a gold wedding band! After a brief, but fruitless, search (picture a bunch of people on their hands and knees rooting through piles of wood shavings), I decided to sweep up the shavings and go through them at home as a last-ditch effort. I filled up two large construction-sized garbage bags.
“After many offers of sofas to sleep on that night, I took the bags home to start my search. Surprisingly, I was more upset about losing the ring than my wife was. In retrospect, I should have labeled which bag I filled first because if I had swept up the ring, it more than likely would have been in the first bag. I spent the next two hours sitting in a cold garage pulling out shavings handful by handful and rubbing them between my hands over a metal dust pan. Grab a handful; rub, rub, rub; empty the dust pan, and repeat. When I had reached the bottom of the first bag, I had almost given up for the night when I heard the glorious ‘thunk’ of my wedding band hitting the dust bin.
“Lesson learned: From then on, I wore my ring on a chain around my neck until I had it resized.” – Carlo Robazza
“I’ve never heard of a silicone ring. I kept losing mine, so I bought a really small one and put it on my Virgin Mary medal chain. It won’t get lost, I won’t get hurt and, most importantly, my wife knows it’s there. Big added bonus: I don’t have to keep explaining that I lost my wedding ring again! Four times in 40 years is plenty of explanations.” – Al Micucci
At least one was proud to say that he has not shared in this sort of experience (yet). – Editor
“Amazingly, I still have the original gold band — a little worse for wear, however. I’ve known a few four-fingered truckers who regaled me with gross-you-out tales of fingers ripped off when they jumped off the back of their rig. I also witnessed my brother-in-law’s seared finger after he crossed it on a 12-volt battery. So far, I’ve been lucky. There. Now I’ve jinxed myself.” – Lee Ohmart
And, although it’s too late for Rob (he lost his tungsten wedding ring quite some time ago), this reader had some suggestions for those who find themselves in a similar situation. – Editor
“I don’t know where you live but … what did you do with the sawdust you were working with? Hopefully it is still on your property. I do metal detecting as a hobby. Look up metal detectors in your local phone book unless you live in a smaller town like I do where the phone books have shrunk to almost nothing as people migrate to the Internet. Call them and see if they would direct you to an individual or group that would help you search for the lost ring. If no results, try the Internet and look for local dealers. If that doesn’t work, go back to the internet and do a search for “metal detect club.” Again, you may find a club in your home area or at least a city close by. Most clubs will help find things for individuals.
“Another possibility is to go to: lostmystuff.net. This organization is composed of individuals that will search for lost items for free. You post your information and wait for someone to contact you. Only potential problem is, how far away is the closest member and how long you may have to wait for someone to contact you. This group is set up so that all posted items are put out to all members in that state. The farther away a member is, the less likely they will come to look. I have actually gone out to areas that were at or on the way to a preplanned vacation trip. If you do get someone to come out, try to borrow a tungsten ring from someone else so they can see what metal detector settings pick up the tungsten metal the best.” – Lee Walkowski
