Weirdest quenches

[Eli Jensen]

So I was thinking about quenching media and was wondering if you guys knew any really weird quenching methods. I've heard of quenching in a melon and into a person! Conan's dad even quenched in snow (one of his MANY flawed techniques). Any really weird quenches that work, even if poorly?

NOTE: I'm not asking for practical purposes, so don't worry about me actually TRYING any of these (although quenching in a melon would make a good show), I'm just curious.

[Doug Lester]

There are all sorts of weird quenching "methods", more like fabels, out there. The melon shares one thing with a body, human or otherwise, and that's inconsistant density. With a tough rind you will bend the hot blade trying to pierce it. Snow might actually be a little better.

Then there's always quenching in urine. It could work but would make you very unpopular in the neighborhood after it's stool in the quench tank for a few weeks. Then there's the question of what urine works better; horse, virgin, drunken monk, etc.

Another fly in the ointment, or tank of old urine, is that not all of the swords from the middle ages or before show any sign of rapid cooling. Some of them were air cooled and the edges were work hardened. The only additional hardness over that of plain iron was from the carbon content and not the crystaline structure.

Doug

[Eli Jensen]

Hmm what if someone cut the rind off?

And I would say virgin drunken monk.

[Doug Lester]

Naw, those were too hard to find.

Doug

[Richard Glenn]

Type O blood. A little dragons mixed in just gives it the lively feeling.

Might try holy water?