#MaineLife Tag | The Ring Finders

🌊 THE RING SHOULD HAVE READ 50… IT READ 21. WHY? 🤔💍

The Ring Finders of Maine, With Recovery and Return #231

I received a call from Kevin late Sunday afternoon. He told me that approximately five hours earlier, he had lost his tungsten wedding ring while in the water at Old Orchard Beach. 🏖️
Kevin was not far from the Oob Pier lifeguard stand, right in front of the carousel at Palace Playland. He had lost the ring at high tide, and as the tide receded, he searched the area where it had come off.
After hours of searching, the ring was nowhere to be found.
As you all know, once a ring comes off in the surf, it settles under the sand and out of sight. 🌊⏳
Kevin wasn’t giving up, though. He asked the lifeguards what else he could do to find his ring. The lifeguards told him to call The Ring Finders of Maine—and here we are! 📞✨
I told Kevin that I could be down there in about a half hour, at 5:15 p.m., and Kevin agreed to meet me there.
He told me he would meet me after helping his wife get their four children back to the cabin they were renting for their week-long vacation in OOB. 🛖👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

🔍 The Search Begins
Once I arrived in OOB, I made my way down the beach to the area near the lifeguard stand.
Kevin hadn’t arrived yet, and not knowing the exact area where he lost it, I just started searching at the bottom of the beach bank slope.
As I finished my first pass without finding the ring, Kevin arrived. He said he wasn’t that close to the slope, and he sized up the area to establish the parameters of where I should search. 📐
I decided to grid search from the lifeguard stand to the carousel, going back and forth while working my way toward the water. 🚶‍♂️🔙🔛🔜
I started in front of the carousel as I made my way toward the lifeguard stand and pier. I received a few targets, including the storm runoff pipes deep under the sand.
The only non-ferrous item was a recently dropped quarter. 🪙
When I dug it up, I could see Kevin watching intently. I told him that this wouldn’t be his tungsten ring but would be a quarter. When I pulled the quarter out of the sand, he was impressed that I knew what it would be before digging it! 🎯

📱 Talking « Shop » & Target ID Numbers
I told him that modern U.S. quarters ring up on the Minelab Manticore metal detector in the 88–90 area on the Target Identification (TID) screen.
I told Kevin that his tungsten wedding ring should have a TID of around 45 to 55, although I have found them as high as the 60s. Size, thickness, and purity play a role, but for the most part, I find them in that 45 to 55 range.
I finished up my first grid pass, turned around, and headed south. Within a minute of this grid pass, I received a nice non-ferrous target of 21. 🤔
Lots of low-conducting metals can have a TID in the low 20s, including gold. I told Kevin it probably wasn’t going to be his ring, but it was too nice of a target to pass up.
I dug a scoop full of sand, and the target was out of the hole. I used my pinpointer to locate it, and once it was located, I was completely surprised to see a tungsten wedding ring! 🤩💎
I showed it to Kevin and asked him if it was his. As he took it from my hand and looked it over, he said:
“Yup, that’s mine. I can see the crack in it.”
AWESOME!!!! 🎉🥳
Kevin thanked me, shook my hand, and asked, “Can I give you a hug?” Of course! I love smiles and hugs. 🤗
Kevin then sent a photo of the ring to his wife, still smiling ear to ear. 📸😁

💡 The Science of Eddy Currents
I told Kevin that I really didn’t think a TID of 21 would be his wedding ring. But once I heard him say the ring had a crack in it, it all made sense! Metal detectors work like this:
Metal detectors rely on a phenomenon called Eddy Currents. 🌐
1️⃣ The Loop Effect: A metal detector’s search coil sends an electromagnetic wave into the ground. This induces circular electrical currents (eddy currents) to travel around the unbroken, continuous loop of a ring. ⭐
2️⃣ The Result: This unbroken loop creates a strong, secondary electromagnetic field that the metal detector detects as a highly conductive, solid object (giving you that clean 45–55 reading for tungsten). 🔋
3️⃣ The Break: The moment a ring is cracked—even a hairline fracture that goes all the way through the band—the continuous loop is broken. The eddy currents can no longer travel around the circle. 💥
Instead of detecting a large, round object, the metal detector now views the ring as a bent strip of wire or an open staple.
Because the electrical path is restricted, the detector perceives it as having drastically lower conductivity (hence the reading of 21!). 📉

⚙️ My Past Career Connects!
Now, for 26 years, I worked at Nichols Portland (NP) in Portland, Maine. 🌲
NP is a manufacturer of gerotors, among other things. Gerotors are powdered metal components that were prone to cracking if not handled properly.
Because Nichols Portland takes cracked parts seriously for both us and our customers, we actually used an eddy current machine (a crack detector) to detect cracks in our parts prior to shipping them out. Our reputation for quality parts was second to none! ✨
Eddy currents are nothing new to me, and as soon as Kevin told me about the crack, I knew immediately why the ring had such a low TID. 🧠
Sorry for my rambling, but I haven’t talked “shop” in five years since my retirement. Some things you just never forget! 🛠️👴

❤️ A Heartwarming Ending
As Kevin and I parted ways, I kept metal detecting as I walked down the beach and back to my vehicle. All of a sudden, I heard Kevin and turned around to see him running toward me! 🏃‍♂️💨
He held his phone up and said, “My children want to thank you for finding my wedding ring.” 📱
I saw four young children all smiling and thanking me for finding “Daddy’s ring.” 🥹
I told his children it was my pleasure as they waved to me over the phone.
It just doesn’t get any better than that. It warms your heart to know you’ve touched theirs. ❤️
✨ Remember: “If it Matters To You, It Matters To Us.” ✨
I have the best job in the world. I love my job! 🔍🏝️👑