There are two, maybe more, ways to go about it. The first way is to let the grain of the wood dictate the split, if the log is truely straight it will split straight. The other way is to take a cirular saw and cut a ferf down the legnth of the log on both sides about and inch deep, then use wedges as you would in the first method. I don't care for the second method because if the grain is not straight you will have alot of waste.