Hello all.

I just got a welder and I want to make laminations and also learn how to stick weld.

Question: Is this stock too thick? Is it possible to be "too thick?"

I just laid it there on top of a #2.


Thank you for your advice.

That looks good to me…doesn’t look too thick. One thing to do when laminating is to put a thin piece of steel between the jaws that sticks up to help align the lamination. Clamp it tight against the plate with vice grips then weld. That way, the laminations align perfectly with the edge of the jaw and don’t overlap. I use a junction box cover.

half inch lams could be excessive perhaps but you're nowhere near that. 4-coiled traps arent hurt by lams much.

This is really good advice. i had a friend laminate about ten dozen #2 Bridgers for me. Most of the laminations were not flush with the jaw faces. I had to file/grind almost everyone to get them flush.

It's not a big deal if the laminations stick past a little bit but I thought they were too far off.

Looking good. Show us a pic when you're done.

As long as it clears the dog when you set it you should be ok.

Thank you everyone!!!!

I will go with this and use BvrRetriever advice as well. Thanks.

I use 1/4" round rod, I weld about a half inch from the end,then whilerod is still red hot I bend it down to match the corners of the jaw

Be sure to heed Monstertoms words at times the lam.s are too thick and you can't set the trap

Looks good.

But If It were me I'd do Inside lams. It's a bit more work but they work out better for less foot damage.

What is the purpose of laminations?

This

Inceases surface area of the trap so it reduces foot damage. Also I some states it lets you get around jaw size restriction

Laminations also strengthen the jaws.

Thanks. I would like to find a result picture of inside lams. I am going to try whatever I end up doing probably this weekend.

I just finished welding my swivels shut with the stick. Make sure your rods are dry. I stuck my old ones in the oven at 200 for an hour and it helped. Only burnt myself twice. Borrowed my buddies auto darkening mask, what a game changer! But I’m not a welder, I sure as heck ain’t posting pics!

Respring appropriately for lams. It will now take more spring tension to hold the animal...if you are trying to hold an animal that will really pull. Many people forget this part.

More important, it will take more spring to come up through a crust fast with the more surface area of the lams. I like laminations, but there is a happy medium, too much jaw face and weight will slow a trap down too much, particularly coming up through a frozen crust. That being said, all my canine traps are either laminated or cast jawed, except a few longsprings that are already heavy jawed and slow, and one wolf trap I made myself and the jaws are 1/4" steel. But all of my coilsprings are four coiled, strong traps.

I'm not sure how to do this method using an offset trap.

Take a one inch board and cut it the width of the offset gap. Place between the jaws and push the lams against it and weld