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.