I think what happened Is you cooked the paint and the odor was absorbed by the wax. I really see no reason to wax over paint.

The paint smell was before waxing. After waxing it was gone, I suppose the wax sealed it up?
I decided to wax to help prevent freezing up.

I don't think waxing your traps will prevent freezing. It's how you bed and cover your trap that prevents freezing.

This ^^^^^

Very true, but it will help with the trap freezing to stuff, or the moving parts freezing together; to a limited extent. It will make the traps smoother and faster, however.

All those things may be trure but Is the extra effort In waxing over paint worth the time? Since the wax Is basically removed after the first catch.

Beav, with all due respect, you have 5 anti-wax posts on this thread.
The extra effort was a few minutes since I was waxing some land traps anyways, and I did these 2 traps last.
There’s no doubt that waxed traps are less likely to stick to snow, ice, frozen ground. Wax is hydrophobic (water hating, repels water)
I only have one cat tag, so one catch and done is fine with me.
It is just an experiment.

Good luck.

Tie some type of flagging to your drag It will show up a lot better In snowy or none snowy conditions.

I would have just waxed my traps LOL

Thanks Beav, I appreciate you.
Next time I’m going to wax, then paint, lol.

Was it you that I remember had powder coated some traps? I’m thinking about trying that too.

Good luck out there, this weather change sure has me pumped for the season.

I have powder coated lots of traps. I started out doing all my 160s. I made the mistake of leaving them In the set with safeties on. I lost a bit of power but It wasn't enough to make much of a difference.
Then I did most of my canine traps. In my opinion it's the ultimate coating. But It's a bit expensive. But Like most of my trapping gear I know some one that makes It for me pretty much free of charge.
Give It a try you will like It. And you won't have to paint or wax over It. LOL

I use Full Metal Jacket over all my painted foot traps.

To get the traps cleaned of paint and FMJ, I tumble them with 1/2 inch gravel in a cement mixer for 5-10 minutes. Then I repaint and FMJ again. I do this ‘deep cleaning’ about every 2-3 years.

I guess I don't get why that some use the 2 coat system Are we trying to protect the trap or protect the first coating.
When I waxed traps I just waxed them. And when I went to painting traps I just painted them.

Tradition, I guess, Beav. If I missed a spot while spray painting and my basement gets damp before season, they may rust. If I painted and then dipped in FMJ, they won’t rust while in storage.

After a coon catch, the FMJ, paint and every is polished off and it’s time to replace the trap. But I’ve caught several coyotes in the same trap. Any scratches or a little rust didn't seem to bother them.