On the bench now - Dulcken double

This instrument is available for sale for delivery by the end of 2025, contact me for pricing and further details

2025's major project is a copy of the 1745 JD Dulcken in the Smithsonian, a large 5 octave double, but with a few twists. Dulcken's original has a dogleg 8, and both 8's adjacent to one another. The dogleg arrangement is an error, a real dog in my view - it means the manuals cannot be uncoupled, the doglegged jack is always available on both manuals, either "on" on both or "off" on both. Dulcken himself later abandoned this layout for the better French shove coupler and so have I. My build has coupler dogs and a shove coupler so that the front 8' sits only on the upper manual and connects to the lower manual via coupler dogs on the lower manual keys and a sliding upper manual to engage the upper keytails over the dogs. Push the upper manual in and the upper 8' can be played from the lower manual, pull it out and the two 8's can be played independantly from both manuals.

Decoratively the original Dulcken is sombre and emaciated. Painted black on a baluster stand - this won't do at all. A large double should amaze and excite the eyes: walk into a room with a piano and a double harpsi and your eyes should be all over the harpsi and recoil from the stark bulk of the piano. So my build is going full on french, seven turned and gilded legs and a bright table stand - stand by for further pics. And I'm a sucker for green....

Musically the Dulcken's voice is northern, not the reedy (wheezy?) rounded vowel sound of the early Flemish Ruckers school, nor the tending to shrill brittleness of the late French but authoritative and clear speaking, ideal for the 18th century's composers.

This instrument has a LOT of jacks.

4 ranks of 61 jacks each for the two 8's, the 4' and the lute, that plucks the upper manual 8' string

Stop lever end knobs! in imitation ivory and ebony

The case is out of the workshop sitting on a temporary stand, ready for stringing

The keyboards have ebony naturals with imitation tortoise shell arcaded fronts, with bone topped sharps that are sloped front to back

The Louis XVI stand for my 2024 French Double is a major project taking many steps and hours to achieve the final result. There are many details that I painstakingly add: the legs are tapered and fluted and the stand has many intricate multi-segmented moldings.

Keyboards slowly progress from lumpy raw timber to a finished, balanced and polished keyboard through a number of steps that all take place in my workshop. my shae is a major project taking many steps and hours to achieve the final result. There are many details that I painstakingly add: the legs are tapered and fluted and the stand has many intricate multi-segmented moldings.

Once assembly is complete I primed the stand and legs with hide glue then applied hide glue and chalk gesso before gilding the entire stand

making the keyboards for my 2024 French Double

making jacks and registers

Jack and register making is probably the most demanding and precise part of harpsichord building. The tolerance to all jack components is +0/-0.2mm. My jack tongues are made from stabilised Hornbeam and the bodies are either Australian Blackwood or European Beech.

To achieve this level of repeatability and precision each step involves using a precise set of jigs and fixtures as well as specialised precision machinery capable of working to repeatable accuracy of +/- 0.001 inch.

making and decorating the case of my 2024 double

Working from detailed plans, jigs and templates the case gradually comes together. My joints are mitred and splined which in my opinion gives a stable and strong joint.

Unusually I guess for most builders I like to decorate my instruments myself. My decorative style replicates Flemish and French stlyes, drawing some elements from original instruments and others from my local environment. My 2024 French has native blue banded bees, tomatoes, a lyrebird a rosella and echidna, as well as a number of the native flowers that grow around the bush where I live and work

my decorative stlye

Here's a closer look at my decorative work

some of my finished instruments