About a month ago, I made the small box in the pics below out of some scraps or mahogany, walnut and padauk. The box is about 8" x 5 7/8", and the top is 7/16" thick. The top is made of 3 jointed pieces of walnut. About 24 hours after jointing and gluing up the top, which was about 1/2" thick at that point, I planed it to the final 7/16", & while it was still a rectangle, I made a ~1/16" deep dado for the paduak insert in the middle. I then cut it into the final triangle shape, and glued in the paduak. This all happened in about 3 days. So far so good. After finishing with water based poly, the top slowly began to warp at the outer points of the triangle near the "handle", as shown in the final photo. The top sat nice and flat on the box right after finishing. The gap at the outer edge as shown in the pic is about 1/16". The walnut scrap I used had been in my dry shop for about 3 years, though I did have to resaw it to the 1/2" thickness used in the glue up. I have used the same wood for several tables over the last 3 years with no problems so far. What would have caused the top to warp this way, and what might I have done to prevent this? Should I have left the jointed glue up sit for some days prior to planing to the final thickness? Or should I have left the resawed pieces sit even before jointing/gluing up? Should a waiting period always be allowed prior to final jointing/gluing/planing to allow and pieces to "settle"? I'm planning to remove the cleats on the underside of the top, and try jointing it flat, than fitting a smaller triangle to the flattened underside to replace the cleats. I hope all the above is clear! Any suggestions appreciated.

It may not be clear in the pics, but the top glue up is 3 pieces, 1 about 1 1/16" wide in the center where the dado is, and one on each side about 2 3/8" wide at their widest points.

Dan

box all.jpg