Cutting an Ice Axe

I have an old BD Raven sitting around that is quite long that I've used for easy snow climbing (more walking really). To make it more ergonomic for steeper terrain I was thinking of using an angle grinder to shorten the bottom of the shaft, cutting it at an angle so that the resulting hollowed, angled point would be the new spike. My question is if anybody has done this and to what success? I am mostly worried about the new spike/shaft being weaker than the original spike and deforming or bending if it plunges through to a rock, or having to cover the end so that ice and snow doesn't build up inside. 

Idk about the shaft bending, but the point will dull quickly, and you’re right about snow getting in. If you don’t have access to a machine shop, you might be better off just buying a shorter one to fit your needs.  I guess you could cut it off square, (meaning at a right angle), and reattach the stock spike with a rivet or roll pin. 

Many moons ago I machined a spike out of titanium for an old Grivel axe. Problem is, paying someone to do this will cost WAY more than a new axe. 

I cut down an ice axe a while back to make a super short, light tool for approaching summer alpine climbs. It works great. Plenty of lightweight axes these days leave off the spike and just have the aluminum shaft cut at an angle. It’ll definitely dull more quickly than a true steel spike but I’ve found it has more than adequate durability for my purposes. Even if it does dull, you can always just chop off another 1/8” of shaft and have a brand new point.

If you leave the shaft open at the bottom it’ll definitely collect snow in some conditions. (I’ll note that this does make an excellent tool for flinging snow at your partner). I haven’t tried it personally, but I always thought that some expanding foam would be an easy way to plug the bottom of the shaft. Alternatively, I bet you could easily 3d print a plastic plug and epoxy it in place. A lot of public libraries now have 3d printers that are free to use, and it would be pretty simple geometry to draw up. 

Yes, I have done this. Decades ago I needed to replace a broken 55cm Chouinard Zero axe. I had a long fiberglass shaft Camp Zero as an extra axe (it was cheap). I cut it down and epoxied the spike assembly back in place. The Ravens appear to have the spike epoxied (my zero was riveted, which I omitted the rivet), and it might be quite a job cleaning it up for refitting.  I used that shortened Zero several years,  until I switched to Stubai Tyrol tools.

As a first try I would remove the spike and go about removing the last bit of the shaft from it. As noted it is epoxied into place. Which with heat you should be able to separate. If that is successful then you have a spike in which to reuse. At that point cut the shaft to the appropriate length and epoxy the spike back into place.

Of course the other option which is much simpler is to buy an axe of the appropriate length.

a famous swiss alpinist(who reccently made a speed ascent) did this to his quark

Trivea. In the 1970's, Mountain Safety Research (MSR) made a kit for this. You cut their Eagle or Thunderbird Ice Axe shaft at the desired location and epoxied in a new spike. One could pin the cut lower shaft-spike over the new spike for a 2 length option ice axe.

Do it!