Thanks for the link to the article, Pat. That is very sad. I grew up in Milwaukee and remember how devastating Dutch Elm disease was as a kid way back in the 1960's. My Grandparents' street was lined with huge elms that were all eventually cut down. These trees were so big that they would shade the whole street. Sad to see it happening to the ash trees now from those damned EABs. Anyway, I'm going to split the billets and see how the wood looks this weekend. Thanks again to everybody for all the information.