bohunter ,glad to hear someone trying it . crepe doesnt split bad during drying just seal the ends . on small diameter stuff i usually start a bandsaw kerf about 6 inches and then split from there. seems to help it stay straight. reduce it down to bow thickness to speed drying but dont narrow the limb width or it will warp on you. if the bark wont peel easily it will scrape off easy enough , have to remove all of it because it will crack on you during tillering and give you near heart attcks , although it wont effect the integrity of the back. what i have used is extremely dense 60 inch x 1 1/4 pieces have yeilded 50 lb bows. look forward to seeing what you come up with.
ken
