Yes, You Can Wear Apple Watch While Welding or Fabricating!

If your work includes spending many hours a day at your workshop, then you might be in need of an electronic device such as an Apple watch to keep your company. For the sake of its safety, you might not prefer to have your phone by your side while you do your metalwork.

Can you wear an Apple watch while welding or fabricating? Yes, you can do it, however, you need to take some precautions because of the heat. As you know, the welding machine temperature can range from 10,000 all the way to 45,000°F.

A lot of people wear this tiny device while they work out or do their chores. This is because it’s portable, durable, and includes many features that your phone has. Yet, for welders, there are several things you should consider before choosing that path.

We’ll help you explore your options and give you tips on wearing Apple Watch while welding or fabricating.

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How to Think It Through

Unlike other occupations, being a welder isn’t a risk-free job. There are many safety rules that you need to apply while you work with your welding machine.

For instance, there’s special gear that every welder should wear to ensure their safety including:

A face shield
Welding gloves
Close-toed shoes
Earmuffs or plugs
A long-sleeved, inflammable shirt

As you can see, due to the nature of your work and the exposure to heat, your environment must be in an optimal state to prevent any potential risks. Many variables are at play here.

Therefore, when you add another factor to the equation like an Apple Watch, you’ll need to think everything through. At first glance, it might seem like a bad idea to wear your smartwatch while you weld.

Before we discuss how you can put it on and still be safe, let’s explore some of the risks you might encounter if you’re not careful.

Heating Up

The first and most obvious reason why many welders can be reluctant to wear their Apple Watch to work is because of the heat.

Imagine what that could do to your precious Apple Watch if it gets too close to the heat source. This might cause your little gadget to heat up.

Also, excessive heat can have a negative impact on electronic devices. Besides, taking your watch from air-conditioned environments to the heat of your workshop on a daily basis can lead to several issues.

Minor problems include your watch slowing down or functioning poorly. Other major effects might appear in cracks in the screen or unresponsiveness.

Yet, it might put you at ease to know that this usually doesn’t happen from a day or two of heat exposure.

Shorting Out

The second risk that you might put yourself at is that your watch may short something out. This can result in an electric arc going for your wrist and causing injuries or burns.

Also, there’s a chance that the sparks might jump over your gloves to the bare skin between your wrist and the watch.

A Watch Can Be an Obstacle

This doesn’t just apply to smartwatches, but also normal watches and even metal wristbands. See, having an object surrounding your wrist can keep you from welding small or tight pieces of metal without resting the watch on the surface.

Again, this can lead to an injury or you getting zapped by accident.

The risk might become double if you’re using high-frequency welding. In this case, the metal straps can act as a conductive medium to this heat and might cause harm to your skin.

Potential Damage

When welding metals, debris and sparks fly everywhere. There’s a good chance that some metal shards will hit the face of your watch at a fast rate, causing it to break.

As you know, Apple Watch costs quite a sum of money. Thus, unless you’re okay with scratches or dents, you’ll need to take more care if you want to wear it to your workshop.

A lot of welders prefer not to wear anything that they can’t afford to replace while fabricating or welding.

Now that we’ve addressed the hazards that an Apple Watch might cause, let’s find out how you can outsmart them.

Tips to Follow If You’d Rather Wear an Apple Watch While Welding

Luckily for people who can’t just give up on their smartwatches, there are several tips to eliminate the risks. Besides wearing your protective welding gear and making sure that all is clear at your workshop, it’s time that you consider these hacks.

Get an Apple Watch Case

Here’s something that can save your smartwatch from any metal pieces that might ruin its frame or face. It’s as simple as getting a reliable case with a strong protective glass.

A case won’t be costly, and in case of a break, all you’ll need to do is replace it with another one. It’s far better than watching your pretty watch get damaged, am I right?

More specifically, you can attach your Apple Watch to a Supcase strap, which is a durable case that should leave you no worries when you’re welding.

Wear Your Apple Watch Tight

The reason why an Apple Watch might be harmful is, as we’ve previously mentioned, for it to be exposed. Having it slide down from your wrist and leave the safety of your protective gloves is another problem you can solve.

Simply enough, tighten your watch to fit your wrist perfectly so it doesn’t get loose and cause problems. You can keep it this way as long as you’re welding metals, then loosen it back to its normal state when you’re done.

Don’t Use the Welding Machine Too Close to the Watch

Now, your Apple Watch is all nestled up and secure under your welding gloves. Yet, you still need to be careful. In many incidents where people wore their wedding bands or watches under these gloves, they somehow still managed to get shocked.

This can happen if your welding machine is closer to your watch than the metal you’re fabricating. To keep this from occurring, make sure that you use the welding machine far from your Apple Watch’s reach.

Still, some pieces might require you to get your hands near the welding machine. In this case, you might want to consider taking the smartwatch off and keep it away until you can maintain your distance again.

Don’t Wear Your Apple Watch When High-Frequency Welding

There’s simply no way around this one!

Naturally, you’ll sometimes need to use the HF welding technology to fuse your materials together. This tech depends on applying radiofrequency energy to the area that needs to be joined.

Overall, it’s an effective method to use when you don’t want to damage the outer surfaces of these materials.

How an RF plastic welder works >> Check out the video below:

However, when you think of what it can do to your Apple Watch, you’ll realize that it might be a better idea to take the device off before using it.

For instance, these high frequencies can cause your watch to change its settings. They might also interfere with your watch’s radiations.

Not to mention that you can get zapped more easily if you’re wearing any metal object while using HF welding.

Hang Your Watch on a Nearby Nail

If you’d rather not use your Apple Watch while welding, you might still want to keep it close. For instance, you’ll need to check the time every now and then or see if you have any new messages.

In this case, you can drill a nail in a nearby wall and place it there. Make sure that it’s not too close to where you’re using your welding machine.

Also, don’t forget to keep your watch in a case to protect it from any flying metal parts or wayward sparks.

Clip It to the Inside of Your Pocket

If your sole purpose of wearing an Apple Watch while fabricating is for music, problem solved! You don’t necessarily have to wrap it around your wrist to listen to your favorite playlist.

Just use a spring-loaded clip to attach it to the inside of your jeans pocket, and you’re good to go. This way, it should stay out of harm’s reach under the protection of your inflammable shirt.

We’re aware that these clips might not be compatible with some Apple Watch models. However, if yours works with these useful accessories, you’ll most definitely want to give it a shot.

The Bottom Line

Yes, we understand that you and your beloved Apple Watch might be inseparable. It’s such a helpful gadget in many more ways than just knowing the time.

You can send or receive emails, check the weather forecast, listen to music, or log in to your social media accounts. This makes it a great device to use at work.

Yet, while you’re at it with the welding machine at your workshop, you might want to think twice about putting your smartwatch on. It can cause injuries or get damaged in the process.

Hopefully, if you follow our tips, you can reduce the chances of such potential risks.