Seller told me it was from turn of the century and he got it from an antique shop in Switzerland. He said it was a military man's axe, "AZ" bearing his initials. Can anyone who knows more than me confirm the age/authenticity? It looks like the original sling material on it. Makes a great conversation piece in my office!

Sweet! Please fix your photos.

i dont know how!! help

Looks just like the one I got at an antique store about 20 years ago. Very similar appearance in stock, head design and sling material. (Except mine has no notches in the pick.) I was told it was likely a WWII era ice axe. Would be interesting to find out more. Mine's on the fireplace mantle along with a bunch of old rusty pins.

Okay, so you got me thinking and I took my old axe down and snapped some pics. It's different than yours just a bit... Looking closer I found a manufacturers mark on mine. It's an oval with the letters SEFRAM inside. In the photo you can just sort of see it on the shank of the pick. On edit: Just noticed that the logo was SFERAM. I'd inverted the E and the F.

If I were to guess from the shape of the head, I'd say mid 20th century. Such a model would have been rather obsolete in the seventies, but they kept making such axes for a while.

bajaandy's axe. Sefram is likely to be of French origin. Generally, the straighter the pick, the older the axe.

Connollyck's Axe: Another reference here: A model H9551-1 made by Leonhard Kost produced in 1910 has a very similar head shape, though without the serrated pick, indicating that your axe, with serrated blade, is post that date. Serrations were a later innovation. Though both axes have similar pitting in the metal, indicating similar steel and source. Later axes contain more chrome and rare metals and thus more resistant to corrosion: NiCrMo steel.

You might try using a strong magnifying glass and check all over to find any corroded out engraver's mark.
http://www.dhub.org/object/257630,insight (open 2 tabs and flick between) This axe is 245mm (9.7") wide, and maybe 42" long, though the info is ambiguous.

I'd like to see a different angle (turn shaft 90deg to lens so we can see the insertion front and back, as there is something odd there). And how wide it and how long is the shaft?

Other info: (STUBAI) axe. Where a STUBAI logo is enclosed by a diamond, it would be pre World War II. If the logo is enclosed by a mountain, it would be after WW II

more pics by request. for scale, the bd ice ace is a 70cm.

Wow, that thing is massive!

Luciano136 wrote:Wow, that thing is massive!

thats what she said

the wooden iceaxe is very similar to my "ancient" Stubai :
The stick was made in ash wood
I bought it in 1964 and lost it just out of the channel in the mid of the Tour Ronde N wall in 1972 (I think)

gabriele wrote:the wooden iceaxe is very similar to my "ancient" Stubai :
The stick was made in ash wood
I bought it in 1964 and lost it just out of the channel in the mid of the Tour Ronde N wall in 1972 (I think)

Yes. Looks just like my Stubai as well. I found it on the Monte Rosa Glacier, near Zermatt. If these old axes could tell stories...

connollyck wrote:more pics by request. for scale, the bd ice ace is a 70cm.

The iron ring close to the bottom of the shaft is unusual (never seen), that should retain the other ring with the sling. Normally in the old axes there was a screw to do that.

I found one several years back of similar construction. The spike on mine is different, but the head and shaft assembly are almost identical. Mine was made in Switzerland and is stamped with two numbers: a 5-digit number I do not remember, and 1943. I am certain that this was made in 1943 and that 5-digit number is a serial number; very typical of military equipment.