More on Dyeing and Waxing Traps
By Potlicker
I’ve been reading and enjoying all the dyeing and waxing discussions on Trappers Post for the last few weeks, so I would like to put in my two cents’ worth.
I am 87-years-old and have been trapping for 81 years. I was six when I caught my first animal, and I loved it then and still do. Not a single day goes by that I don’t think about catching something. Things have really changed since 1936!
In the 1970s and ‘80s, my buddy and I were trapping Lake Cumberland for Red Foxes. The sandy banks were hard to trap on. Despite using screen wire, paper, and sponges, the sand would usually stop up the traps so they would not fire.
I don’t dye and wax my traps any more. I spray them a light off-color brown mixed with some off-color green. (I think steel traps would be just as good painted pink because they are covered with something anyway.)
I’ve come up with something for the lake trapping by developing a system that worked great. First of all, don’t forget to put a nail between the jaws before you start dyeing. Then, you will need three sets of fire:
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Boil and simmer your traps in a container.
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Heat your traps on a burner.
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Heat your wax.
After your traps have the color you want, take them out of the boiling water one at a time, shaking them to remove the excess water. The trap will be warm, but it needs to be hot
A Coleman two-burner stove works great for the next step. Ahead of time, put a flat piece of metal about 8” X 8” on one of the burners. Lay each individual trap on the metal until it is hot to the touch. Next, dip the hot trap into the hot wax, then pull the trap out of the wax, shaking it a few times.
Finally, hang the traps up to dry. What you have now is a beautiful, slick trap; you can barely see that it has been waxed, and it doesn’t have any buildup of wax or any white flakes falling off. The main thing is to have the traps hotter than the wax. By using this method, we could set the steel traps sometimes with the pans exposed and still catch Reds.
These were the Shining Times. Reds were $75.00, Grays were $45.00. One day, I caught enough foxes to buy a new dirt bike. Shining Times–Will we ever see them again?!
For all you strong, hot, full of piss and vinegar trappers, like I used to be, who want to try something different–get a 330 Belisle, wax it good, and try to set it by hand. Warning–it can and probably will bite you!
The hardest trap I ever tried to set by hand is a new 120 Conibear Trap, well-waxed with no safeties on either spring. Don’t laugh. Try it, you won’t like it.