I just finished watching the explaination for Tommy Wonder's Watch in a nest of boxes. I liked the idea he threw out about having a ring appear in a ringbox rolled up in a ball of yarn. I have made a method for this trick using ideas of Tommy's watch trick and the one's he talks about with that trick. I have come to a problem though, I need a way to destroy the ring. I don't want to vanish the ring, I want to destroy it. I think the destroying seems more impossible to make the ring appear than just vanishing it and no one knowing where it went. But, I have no method of destroying it. I thought about using his method with the auction, but that doesn't seems as effective since it would be harder to smash a ring, and harder to aim exactly on the ring though a silk.

One way I thought of was burning the ring by using a crossing the gaze switch after wrapping the ring in flash paper. But, there doesn't seem to be much justification as to why a solid gold ring would burn so quickly. Does anyone have any ideas to ways to destroy the ring?

I'm not familiar with this trick, but would it be possible to "crush" the ring with a pliers or something to that effect? If the ring is under a silk you could make a switch to a penny or similar round object, show it in the teeth of the pliers (through the silk) then crush it. Again, I do not know this trick so I may be way off here.

After someone told me about the ring crusher they sell at viking magic, I thought of something. I could take out a small cloth to clean the ring. Then I could do a crossing the gaze switch as I reach for a mallet. Then I would have switched it for a ring or wire that is all crushed up. Then I go on with the smashing of the ring during the auction. Then I open up the cloth and the pieces fall into the trash. They see it go in, they see it crushed, and lost. Any other ideas?

The ring crusher from Collectors/Viking is very satisfying. The noise it makes really makes you believe that it could be crushing a ring.

For stage work I've seen people put the ring in the handkerchief and have the spectator hold onto it. The performer then grabs on corner of the handkerchief and has their helper drop the ring, ostensibly so it can vanish. The droping of the ring while the performer holds the corners creates a pendulum so the ring swings down and back up and flies out of the handkerchief across the room. It's not destroyed but it is definitely gone.

Dave

Having the 'ring' fly across the room is indeed quite funny! And if you use a black washer and make sure it flies BACKWARDS on the stage then there is no chance of them following the path of the ring with their eyes.

Other methods

*Burn in flash paper - explain the paper will burn away the 'impurities'. The whole ring is burnt away

*Drop a brick on it 'accidentally'.

*Drop it in a running blender.

Mike Close used a battery-operated bank in the shape of the plant from "Little Shop of Horrors". The plant eats the ring and small pieces fall out the bottom. (Workers 3 "You Axed for It")

Another magician has a "ring cleaner" that turns out to be a paper shredder.

Pete Biro demo'd another version of a ring cruncher that I don't think was Viking.

I use Roy Roth's RING GRINDER... the best...

However.. in the OLDE (pre-Biro days) magicians would gring up rings in a Mortar and Pestle (you can gimmick one up to work).