Thanks for info Tom , I use chainsaw for quite alot of my joinery too. I usually try to cut a shallow kerf with the circular saw first. That sometimes seems to be the hardest and most dangerous part of the procces. I've also used slabbing mills for some of the work on the splints. We've also used circ. saw and finished with recip. but lining up the circ. saw kerfs was kind of hit or miss due to surface irregularities. I like to treat all end grain on repairs too , we use clear poly stain.