MB650 jaw mod

Looked around the archives but couldn’t find anything, has anyone lightly used a grinder and rounded the jaws on the mb650s? Just looking at a cheaper option other than laminating everything. Thought if you took that edge off it might result in less foot damage. Thanks for any input!

I would still recommend laminating to get that thicker jaw so the pressure on the paw is spread out more it's a little more expensive but getting the cast jaws are the way to go.

Laminating would definitely be the way to go. But if you can't do that and you wanted to knock down the sharper edges of the jaws just shim them open and run a strip of Emery cloth back and forth on the inner faces to smooth them down a bit. Don't want to make the jaw face any narrower tho. Just smooth the corners of the jaw face.

Many years ago,my first 650's were unlaminated .I radiused the jaw edges and I can tell you,they cause uunacceptable damage.MTP only offers them so that people who want to do their own custom lams,can.I would only recommend the laminated-your choice or if you want to save some money,get the 550's.

Sharp edges isn’t the reason for the laminations. Laminations add more surface area which serve two purposes. To give you more hold and to distribute the force felt on the animal when the trap closes. Those 650s are some pretty intense traps. I’ve been caught in all of my traps except my 650s. I’m extra careful with those. Getting themnlaminate didn’t that much more and it’s even cheaper if you do it yourself. If you’re worried about cost just get the 550s. Plenty of gold with those. Even the 450s have more then enough hold.

I would not use a grinder , no matter how good you are the rounded shape of the jaw makes for tougher angles. If you are bound and determined to round the jaw use a file or emery cloth . The offset is wide enough to get emery cloth in very easily, once your done you will have the jaws all shined up for welding the lams on .

IT's a lot of trap not to have lams on. I'd find a way to add lams, personally. I'm very happy with my Cast Jawed models.

And lams don't aid in holding....it aids in cut/damaged feet. Ever coon trapper knows this.

Thanks for the quick replys guys! I'm 100% a cast jaw fan and will probably just go that route. Just figured someone had tried it so thought I'd check to see if it worked! If I get pinched for funds then I'll run with the OL.

I'm actually not sold at all on the 550s which is why I'm trying to slowly make the switch to 650s. My old man bought a dozen 650s when they first started to come about thinking they were Sterlings (back when you could find them) and we've liked them. I've had too many misses with my 550s when theres a light layer of snow over the trap even with waxed dirt. I'm sure I can fool with the pan tension and they would be fine but for some reason I just don't have much faith in them. Go big or go home I guess!

If you look at physics, more surface area means more friction, which means more hold. The only reason the prevent cutting is because they are rounded. You could round any jaw and prevent cutting. Squared lams will still cause damage. It will be less but thats because the more surface area is creating more friction which means less movement between the paw and the trap, which will cause less paw damage.

I don't agree.This isn't a car tire on pavement.It is steel pressing in to flesh.Thin sinks deeper.than wide.It doesn't increase grip though there isn't enough difference to worry about.Wide distributes force over a wider area.That is it's purpose.

Grinding with an angle grinder and smoothing up with a file works fine.Most don't realize how much that edge needs to be rounded,to make a difference.Emory won't touch it.The trapjaws have to be held open to get both edges.Both edges matter!Still,rounding the edges on an unlaminated MB650,will never stop the severe damage.They still cut and there will be bone damage.

I get less damage with inside lammed '650's than cast jawed.Keep in mind,I round the unlaminated jaw edge on the ILs.The cast jaw edges are too sharp,out of the box.This can be fixed by grinding all 4 jaw edges,properly but who wants to pay $54 dollars more per dozen,to do that.

The cast jaw also,does not have as wide a surface as the laminated models.Believe that!

Inside Lams:



Cast jaws:

Here is how I soften the edges on the 650 Cast.One Hand Setters are the cat's meow for this type work.

About half of my 650s are IL/OL. There a full 1/2 inch thick. Much less paw damage compared to cast, even with red fox. I'll have to soften the cast jaws I have but when I buy more I'll get the IL/OL over the cast.

I’ve got a half dozen that I bought used that didn’t have any lams and they were not hard enough to use a grinder on, not even close . Not saying you are wrong about what you have taxi but with the experience I’ve had with these traps I could not in good conscience recommend using a grinder. The other six dozen 650’s I have are already laminated and I’ve not messed with them. Perhaps a flapper disc would be a good alternative?

Well,it could be the difference in our grinders.I think the flap wheel would work.I have used a Dremel flap wheel for final smoothing.Still,I really would not recommend ever using MB650's without lams or cast jaws.

Your 100% right , 650’s need lams ! I’m not sure if flapper disc is accurate, I’m talking about the flat disc made up of multiple layers of sand paper for a 4 1/2” angle grinder . At any rate hopefully the OP will do some checking it only costs about 9 bucks for a lam kit from F& T !

This post has me scratching my head. Now if the animals paw is it the trap and not moving. WHY would rounding the inside of the jaws be beneficial ? I think you'd be diminishing of the holding power. 'V' Plus, some will debates this , i find i have less damage with square stock the round stock laminate !

It is actually cheaper to replace the jaws though the MB650 is a pain to do that with.

The animal is moving all the time and there are movable joints in their feet and wrists.We aren't talking an inanimate object here.If your theory were correct,the MB550 would be a worthless trap and people would have to file the rounded edges off.It happens to be a very foot friendly trap,out of the box and holds extremely well.

Holding power is not affected by removing sharp,factory,sharp edges It is more a product of trap design and lock up. Over 50 years of experience has shown me that knocking the sharp factory edge off,dramatically reduces cutting damage,with no affect on holding power.I always choose experience over conjecture when making any design changes.

There's a difference between DULLING the edges and ROUNDING the edges !!! All i'm going to say on that!!! I don't have 50 yrs experience, only 47 so i guess im still on the learning curve. Heck, I still use my north woods and montgomerys traps. I wasn't attacking you or what your doing to your own traps.It was more of an observation and what little experience i have. I still think rounding the inside edge ,waste of time.If it works for you GREAT, and i do appreciated you taking the time posting it. And sharing your knowledge. But don't assume if someone question something they don't know something !

My apologies cat4fish.

I agree with the square stock comment.
I like base d ring to be slight off center the moving back forth will be cut back to only half a trap then,,, because of the principle you can't push a soft rope up hill

If you count the year I started 1966, I have 53 years of experience compared to Taxi and cat4fish. and let me tell you its GREAT when your experience years equals your I.Q. (LOL). I get smarter every year!!! Can't add anything here except I lost more coyotes than I liked from my #2 Montgomery RJ's in the 80's UNTIL I flattened the inside of those "rod" jaws with a file to increase perpendicular surface area to the captured paw (with minimum or no visible damage). The 1.5 Mont. RJ's actually held as many or more coyotes for me than the #2's until I filed them (possibly because the 1.5's made more toe catches). Now with all the jaw improvements on the current foot traps,,,, we are "fine tuning" the tool's points of contact to the betterment of quarry and trapper. For what its worth, I use both cast jaw 650's and 550's with the same results for each type (holding percentage) on a 24 hour check... the mike

Small air grinders can use several types of polishing discs available from different outlets. For jobs like this they would be superior to a regular 4-1/2" grinder. Easy to use one handed and easy to adjust pressure on the disc to control metal removal. Yeah, you need a compressor, but I bet most of you guys have one.

This may help with the lam stuff..

might help too if you really wanna get fancy


So the base trap is an unmodified Sleepy Creek #2DBLS I got in a trade. So first thing we need to do is clean off the jaws and jaw faces, a flap disk on the ole' angle cleans it up real nice in a few swipes.
Before

After

Now we laminate the trap. Im using pieces of cattle pannel. If you don't use a material heavy enough you can bun through it while welding the seam shut. One problems with the pannel is its pretty heavy so you wanna bend it a lil so it confirms to your jaws .
Clamped before welding

After


Now we need to either remove or clamo the springs down so theirs no pressure in the jaws . if you don't know what your doing the pressure fromthe springs Can warp the jaws while welding due to heat. If you've never done this CLAMP OR REMOVE SPRINGS ! As you see here I have mine clamped with some vice grips so I can work .

Now were going to welded the seam between the jaw and the lamination. This is also a good time to weld your lugs if you want it off set.

Just wanna show how hot your jaws can get and why you wanna be carful.

Now the seam is welded were gonna grind everything down flush. Again a flap disk is best.
Before

After

Make sure not to grind too long in one spot,you'll and up washing out the jaw..
Lil bit of paint aaand


This isn't needed but I know some films love the way this looks so hope this helps !

It's always a plus to break any sharp edges on trap jaws
A disc sander will work fine on the outside edge of the jaw...too bulky for the inside edge
A small air die grinder (or Dremel tool) is easier for the inside edge of the jaw
A hand file also works well on either edge
A big help is to use a wire wheel on the jaws AFTER breaking the edges with your tool of choice

In my opinion for the 650 because of their power.....laminations are needed
650's can easily handle laminations because of their spring strength
Inside, outside or both .....just personal preference from experiences

I also,often use a half round file to initially break the edge on the inside.It goes pretty quickly,then smooth up with a Dremel flap wheel.

Great post! My take on this....have used the 650s since they were introduced. Great trap... I have 7 dz.! I did have a learning curve using this trap but now feel very confident on how to use it very efficiently. I have caught a large amount of coyotes and coon in these traps as well as around a dz red fox and around 30 beaver in these traps. Consider trap check laws we have a 24 hr ck here. Consider chain length and swiveling as conditions they differ every where and most importantly consider the individual animal and it's disposition BEFORE discussing paw damage. I used the trap without jaw lam.s for two years and had very few issues but again great swiveling, a 24 hr check and lots of coyotes back then. Began experimenting with the different jaw lam.s that MTP offered and again very few issues. I believe the inside lam.s are an easy way to reduce THE CHANCE of trap issues and some of the live market guys I spoke with like the inside and outside lam.s for their purposes. Honestly, I prefer the outside lam.s over the other styles for our freeze, thaw, snow and ice conditions...helps with grabbing those toes and hanging on. Great trap and I would personally laminate before I would sand or dremel tool. Thanks.

Lots of good responses! Thanks guys. I went the lamination route. Saved like $25 buying the kit instead of buying them already laminated. Figured an hours worth of work and an excuse to be in the shop was worth it. Haven't fully decided on inside or outside yet but it will be a spur of the moment decision I guess. Leaning towards outside at this moment.

MChewk brings up a really good point. Seems like a lot of guys get wrapped up in the trap itself where I'm a firm believer that if it's swiveled properly and you're checking on a regular basis you'll reduce foot damage greatly. Our check period is 72 hours here but when possible, especially if there's a chance for fox and coon, I try to go every 48 during weekdays and 24 during weekends. I looked into the shock springs as well but didn't pull the trigger on them yet. May do that in the near future.