Personally I let logs dry in whole, then after about 4-6 months I will saw them in half. Gordons vine maple tends to reflex severely, because of the outward leaning vines (tension wood) this is from talking to him. I don't target tension wood, so the wood I cut does not tend to move as much. The pics show how I can find rather straight wood that does not lend itself to tension wood....as there is no tension side that leads to highly reflexed wood and excessive movement.