Hi. I purchased an old Army Navy mandolin a bit ago from a guitar shop in our area. It had been there forever, and the top was in 3 pieces and the back in 2 pieces. I got it home and cleaned it up. I removed the giant chunks of wood that had been attached to the top and put the 3 pieces back together with new cleats. The cracks went back together well, and we remade and replaced the braces using the Crystal Forest bracing pattern. The cracks I cleated up and all looked good. I finally got the top on last week and got it strung up yesterday. Tonight, as I picked it up to play there were 2 new cracks in the top. Not where the old cracks were. I have it unstrung now, and I am going to take the top back off. I am not sure what to do now. The wood did not seem to have any dry rot or soft areas. I am not sure what to do. I used hide glue to put the top on so I should be able to get it off pretty easily.
Thanks for any help you might have.
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