eastern hop hornbeam drying?

[jhammer]

Over the past weekend i harvested a hornbeam tree. It is about six inches in diameter, very straight and clean. I should get eight staves, and maybe a couple of billets out of it. I immediately peeled the bark off as it seemed like the easiest method of removal. It has shown no sign of checking only crackes in the heart wood that were there when the tree came down. I have never handled hophornbeam before. Should I be worried about checking? I am planning on splitting the logs in half this coming weekend, should i be concerned about the wood warping if it is this wet when i split it? Any suggestions would be great, thanks in advance.

[Pat B]

I've never seasoned hop hornbeam but I would guess it is similar to most other whitewoods. Split it in half as soon as possible and seal the ends. I would seal the back too although some don't bother on whitewoods. I use spray shellac for sealing bow wood.
  After you split it in half, allow it a month like that before splitting it out to the rest of the staves. This will give the wood time to acclimatize to your shop. Keep the wood in the dry and out of heavy drafts and allow it to dry slowly.

[Pappy]

What Pat said just about covered it,I do seal it.Some don't but I have had some check and it's not worth taking a chance.
   Pappy

[John K]

Yep, seal the back and ends, i didn't seal the back the first time i cut one down and it checked BAD ! Still got usable pieces out of it, but not as much as i could of. HHB is great bow wood !

[jhammer]

thanks everyone