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Random trivia: the "iron version" picture is of my own ring, uploaded a few years back when I was messing around with my friend's new camera. Pleasant surprise
by alex_c 13y ago
Random trivia: the "iron version" picture is of my own ring, uploaded a few years back when I was messing around with my friend's new camera. Pleasant surprise not only to see this on HN, but to see that the picture is still there after all this time :)
As far as I know my year (2005) was one of the last years that U of T still offered an actual iron version, as opposed to stainless steel (most other schools no longer did at that time). I'm not sure if it's still possible to get one today. Another option was to get an old ring from retired engineers who were no longer practicing and returned their ring to be used by the next generation... something that I thought was pretty amazing and humbling.
- kruhft 13y agoThere was no option to get an Iron version back when I graduated in '97. The story was the iron ones turned your finger black so they stopped selling them. Still have mine after all these years and it doesn't come off anymore, so I think I'll be taking it to the grave.
- ars 13y agoI hope you never need an MRI. It really doesn't come off?
- kruhft 13y agoI guess it could be cut off if I really needed to :) But other than that, no it doesn't come off. You tend to gain weight as you get older, even on your fingers.
- Anderkent 13y agoShouldn't you get it adjusted then? I'd be afraid of losing the finger if it gets too tight.
- watersoul 13y agoWe can usually get new ones for about 15$. I don't think the adjustment costs less. There is also the option of not wearing it, as wearing rings that keeps touching a mouse is annoying sometimes.
- kruhft 13y agoIt's not tight enough to be a real concern, just enough that I can't remove it. I think it's more symbolic than anything...the only reason I made it through school was to get the ring and it's a big part of who I am as a person. Now it is part of my person.
- jonny_eh 13y agoI don't think it's ferromagnetic.
- rom16384 13y agoIron is ferromagnetic.
- jonny_eh 13y agoI was thinking of the stainless steel version, but looking that up looks like the answer is "depends". Depends on the definition of "magnetic" (since all materials are to a degree) and the type of stainless steel. I just noticed that my own "iron" ring (which is stainless steel) doesn't seem to respond to typical magnets you'd find around the office. Clearly _iron_ is though, considering it's the element with the symbol "Fe" which is short for Ferrum.
- ars 13y agoUsually (but not always) higher quality stainless steel is not magnetic, while the lower quality is slightly magnetic. However even slightly magnetic can be a problem in an MRI - and worse, there is no practical way for the MRI tech to tell how the stainless steel will act, so they will err on the side of caution.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- yurisagalov 13y agoRE: Getting an Iron Ring vs Stainless Steel It is still possible to get a ring made out of iron at all Camp One Universities (Toronto/Ryerson, and I believe now York and UOIT as well). I graduated in 2009 from UofT and got one, and I have friends who received their iron one this past March, 2013.
- windsurfer 13y agoA lot of jewellers would also be happy to make one if you can't get them through a university. Iron isn't so hard to work with.
- gchpaco 13y agoThere's an important difference between mild steel (which is basically pure iron) and wrought iron (which has slag inclusions); the slag inclusions in the latter actually make for significant rust resistance.
- neoflame 13y agoI graduated from UofT in 2011, and they still offered iron as an option.
- graeham 13y agoUBC '10 here, mine is stainless and I don't recall a iron option. The ring (and ritual) is a great idea for the community and the idea behind it. I strive to include in my professional and non-professional life. It also makes for good barstool chat since fewer people have heard of it compared to say the Hippocratic Oath.
- potatolicious 13y agoOnly Camp 1 (i.e., Toronto-area) get the choice of iron. Everyone else gets stainless.
- Serow225 13y agoI think I had the choice of stainless or iron back in 2003 (U of S). They probably just had an old box of iron ones hanging around. They were pretty clear about the tradeoffs, the iron ones were traditional and symbolic, but they rusted and tended to leave orange marks on your fingers (as you might expect).
- tonyarkles 13y agoAre you still in Saskatoon? I'm always interested when I see other usask grads around places like this.
- Serow225 13y agoNope, got sucked into the US for its tech jobs & stayed: Boston > Minnesota > California > Minnesota.
- joegaudet 13y agoUsually you can get a 'retired' ring that is still made out of Iron, I prefer to wear mine down on my own :P
- joejohnson 13y agoYou should put something in the picture for size reference (a ruler maybe). I couldn't tell if these were finger-sized rings or if these were more like bangles/bracelets. It doesn't say anything about size in the article.
- cli 13y agoThe article states that the ring is to be worn on the pinky of the dominant hand.
- gknoy 13y agoThe explanation I heard for this (from an engineer coworker) was that it's meant to be a reminder that whenever you sign off on a design or report, you are doing so as an Engineer, not merely as yourself, and that it's therefore a reminder to take things seriously.
- typicalrunt 13y agoFrom the article: The Iron Ring is worn on the little finger ("pinky") of the working (dominant) hand
- nomandback 13y agoMaybe a banana.
- robertharper 13y agoI had the option of iron when replacing my lost ring through the Toronto chapter a few years ago. Original from Waterloo in 2002 was steel.
- _mdb 13y agoI graduated UofT in 2012 and got a real iron ring.