After felling the tree with a cut as Close to the ground as possible, and freeing I he desired section from the rest of the trunk, Ykamato studies the wood for Halving and splitting."I look for knots when I lay it out on the ground," he says. "If there is a knot, I make the first Split close to it, since that section will be lost anyway. I split down from the top of the log to the base. That way,