Friday, April 09, 2021

Dermic oiler


From a very long time ago, the "Dermic" oiler for all your model railway lubrication needs. 

It's a nice bit of kit. The plunger slides incredibly smoothly with the glass tube. I've not yet tried it with oil, I need to find a pot of light machine stuff rather than 3 in 1. 

The instructions in the little box show this is an official GEM (George E Mellor) product and dates from the era when you'll squirt a bit of oil in your Tri-ang chassis to quieten it down.

The needle isn't in the box, so if I feel the need to volunteer my services to the vaccination programme, the NHS will have to provide me with one. It might be that owning your own syringe isn't the only qualification required though...

Does anyone remember these things? I'm guessing this is a 1960s device, possibly even earlier, as a little Internet research tells me that S&B were a pre-war company operating from what became Norwood Junction Models premises. A letter in the May 2019 issue of Railway Modeller tells me that the company was set up by Frank Stedman and George Birmingham. Frank had worked for the Leeds Model company.

3 comments:

  1. I has one of these back in the 1960s. I was into bicycle racing and used one of these to insert oil through a tiny hole into the bearings of my incredibly expensive Campagnolo wheel hubs. I am not sure I went any faster but it felt good doing it !

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  2. Phil,

    There are plenty of traders selling hypodermic needles on the Buy It Now section of a well known auction site.

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  3. Anonymous1:18 PM

    I have one of these and would like to sell it

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