Tungsten may be very hard and scratch proof, but it is actually very brittle. Well, not brittle as in you can throw it against the floor and it will shatter, but it could chip. So, a ring made out of tungsten carbide can be easily removed by cracking it into pieces with standard vice or vice-grip pliers. Standard ring cutters will not work.
Much of the confusion regarding how to remove tungsten rings in emergencies stems from the accurate but misinterpreted reputation tungsten rings have for being extremely strong, hard, & difficult to damage. Tungsten carbide certainly does have all these qualities, but due to a lack of knowledge or the intention to deliberately scare consumers away from competing merchandise, the toughness of tungsten has somehow spawned an ugly myth.
The claim that tungsten rings cannot be cut off in emergencies & would thus require amputation of the finger. This could not be more wrong! Again, tungsten rings cannot be cut away by traditional methods, but they are certainly not indestructible. All personnel responding to an emergency remove tungsten rings by cracking them with a regular set of vise grip pliers, which are found in nearly every tool box & kept on hand by emergency rooms.
To remove a tungsten carbide ring in an emergency situation, you can follow these simple steps:Clamp the vice-grip pliers loosely on the ring. Tighten slowly until you hear a crack. Remove vice-grip and place in another position on the ring. Repeat until the material breaks away. Take care not to slide or rotate the cracked ring on the finger. If the ring contains an inlay of gold, or other soft materials, the inlay can be cut or clipped away in the usual fashion.
A few days later I was stung by a wasp on my finger and it immediately swelled up. I took some antihistamine in case it was an allergic reaction. I tried using soap and lotion to get it off and cold water and ice to get the swelling down but the ring wouldn’t move. The only thing left to do was to go to the emergency room. I was getting worried since I thought the ring could not be cut and in the back of my mind I kept thinking they might have to amputate my finger. The doctors couldn’t't get the swelling down so in the end they decided they would cut the ring. Rather that, than amputating the finger. The doctor used a small cutting device with a rotating blade similar to a dremel and within 30 minutes I was out of the emergency room with my ring cut in half and an embarrassing story my husband will always remind me of. At least my finger and husband was intact, the ring could always be replaced”.
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