That link to Adam Kiepers osage harvesting adventure should tell you all you need to know. Just remember when splitting to start on the narrow end of the log so that you don't get too much runout and end up with a stave that is significantly narrower on one end than the other. I suppose as long as it is wide enough it might not matter, I just prefer to try and split them as uniformly as possible so as to get the maximum usable wood for my efforts. Danny