Wm Dunkley upright

[Barrie Heaton]

Est 1865 12 Hazelville Rd London

Barrie

[Bill Kibby]

As Barrie says, William wasn't even established until 1865, and although there were several Dunkleys, none seem to be as early as 1850. How did you arrive at the date? Have a look at pianogen.org

[Bill Kibby]

As I said above, there were several Dunkleys, mostly around East London, and more information would be needed. I can quote for printing general notes, or compile a report based on photos...

[Bill Kibby]

The same message applies.

[echoman]

I too have an upright Dunkley piano. It has a lovely sound even though it is straight string. Mine is dark brown wood. I would also love to know more about its makers. There seems to be nothing about the piano anywhere. I am planning to completely refurbish it I am so pleased with it.

[Bill Kibby]

Our files include bits and pieces about...

DUNKLEY & Son, Stockport
DUNKLEY (Charles) & Sons, London
DUNKLEY (F.W.) & Co., Bristol
DUNKLEY (F.W.) & Sons Ltd.
DUNKLEY (James) Macclesfield
DUNKLEY (J.H.) & Son Ltd.
DUNKLEY (S.H.) Chelmsford, Essex
DUNKLEY (S.M.) Westcliff, Essex
DUNKLEY (Sydney M.) Southend, Essex
DUNKLEY (W.) London
WHITE & DUNKLEY

[kenatbrisbane]

We bought a Wm. Dunkley upright in 1990, in a little town called Longford in Tasmania. We had hints and guesses as to its age, and arrived at about 1890. So that roughly agrees with the 1865 est. of Wm. Dunkley piano manufacture (the S/n is 2719, so a product of the established process). We've brought the piano up to Brisbane (where we've been since 1994), but the piano has largely sat unused until now. The piano tuners refuse to tune it, because they find it hard work, and unrewarding because there are some jangly notes. Encouraged by several websites to have a go at the old piano, I bought a Korg CA30, and tried in vain to find a piano tuner's hammer/wrench. So I had a go with an adapted socket wrench (a nut in between reversed 1/2" hex, which allowed me to use the 1/4" drive hole, plus cotton cloth padding). I was very gentle, and only had to tune about a dozen notes before it was adequate for my ear, and for the purpose (to have something to practise on for lessons, now that I'm keen to get going again after far too long just playing the turntable and CD player). It took longer to glue the heat-loosened ivory caps back onto the keys!
The wood and craftsmanship are wonderful to behold! I wonder how restorers go for finding parts like the tiny, hair-springs at the base of the hammers (rear base of bird-cage). They were there to provide a damping action, but with a loop of fine, green material (cotton, leather?). Most of them are now swinging in the breeze, but it doesn't seem to alter the sound that much. It's obviously an old, jangly (but rich toned) piano, but has charm, and poses a challenge... I'll be interested in exchanging pictures, and notes with any other who make headway with the restoration.

[Pianomate]

You can get any parts you need from Heckscher, the link is at the left hand side of thispage under "Piano Parts".

[lucy]

I was told that my paternal family, Dunkley's made pianos in particular trench pianos in the First World War. Many of my ancestors were paino makers/polishers/tuners for at least 200 years. So really exciting to see that Dunkley pianos exist. The family lived in London and Somerset.Any more info would be useful.

[Bill Kibby]

If you email me I can send you some rough notes, and put you on our mailing list for future information, but I do not put my life's work on the internet for free. I would also be interested in anything you can tell me.

[kenatbrisbane]

Keytop material: I had thought the keys on my Dunkley were made of ivory. But several had to be re-glued, and I was puzzled by the flexibility -- almost 'vinyl' nature of them, rather than the brittleness of ivory. (I have also since read that the ivory keytops were always made in two pieces). It is now apparent that they are most likely made of celloloid. It diminishes the old piano in my esteem slightly, but the actual finish of the keys is still a masterpiece, so I'm not so unhappy -- except that I need to replace an F keytop... Note the entry about the "1887 Steinway A" with celluloid in the following, and the other entries:

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthre ... keys_.html

See entry from Ryan Sowers
"Many people don't realize how far back plastic goes. I once had an 1890's upright with original celluloid keytops."
and entry from pyropaul:
Light one with a lighter. If your house immediately burns down as a result, they're celluloid.

[Bill Kibby]

Plastics have been around as alternatives to ivory since the 1860s, and not all are celluloid. It is a reasonable (although not perfect) rule that ivory coverings are usually made in two pieces, and artificial ones are in one piece, often a sheet of material covering the whole keyboard before it was cut into individual notes.

[kenatbrisbane]

I'm still having fun with the Wm. Dunkley piano, and have made progress at getting it back in shape a bit.
Tuning with the Korg CA-30 is quite easy (though doesn't work so well for the bottom octave -- the detection of key waivers a lot, so octave tuning is required). I actually find it easiest to remove the whole bird-cage; jam wedges into adjacent strings; and pluck like a harp.
In fact I think I finally found out why the tuning 'wrench' is called a tuning hammer. Mine is one I found in a second-hand shop (owner didn't know what it was), that has symmetric, rounded, metal handles. As a refinement to the plucking, I can hold the stem (with key hole), and gently tap the strings where the felt hammers would strike, to get the strings to vibrate correctly. All of this probably not kosher, but it works for me.
Some of the hammers had lots of sideways flop in their movement, giving a jangly sound. I've realised that the hammers pivot on beautiful brass pins embedded in the (rosewood?) mounts. These can be gently squeezed back into place with a pair of channel lock pliers. Even more amazing is that the grip each hammer stem has on the brass pin can be gently adjusted with another screw that squeezes a tiny metal plate to firm up the action. The result is spectactularly better.
I'm trying to tease out some of the felt, but will need to track down a felt-teasing tool. I'll take a look when I get to back to UK (London) in coming years.

[Bill Kibby]

Why are you teasing the felt, has it done something to you? What do you mean by teasing? Are you a hairdresser?

A T-hammer is a T-shaped lightweight hammer which has the tuning socket at its bottom end, excellent for controlling very loose pins. Quite what they did with the hammer aspect is uncertain, but it is never known as a "tuning hammer".

The L-shaped crank or lever, although not built as a hammer, is very useful for making holes in hollow doors, as one of my fellow students demonstrated at college. We had a saying "all leavers are cranks".