OK, I'm not sure whether this was a good idea, but I just got a 6 foot x15" dia ash log from my neighbor for free. I want to use to make a set of Boggs-style chairs The tree was 90% dead. The videos on youtube make the splitting look easy. So, what should I do? Should I wait a bit before splitting? I don't expect to use the wood until September. Should I at least de-bark it now? Any other advice would be appreciated!