Turntable

Lower friction does not necessarily mean less noise. Also, some TT are designed to have a certain amount of friction to act as a constant low-noise brake. I would stick to the manufacturer's recommendation - yeah, maybe it's $50 for an ounce worth 50 cents, but what's your TT worth?

So far, Helomech offered the most cogent point.  Make sure your turntable does not have sintered bronze bearings, by all means.  And then don't use the stuff regardless.

Friction in a piston engine, which lives at very high piston velocities and where the metals are known, is a whole different thing from what's happening in a turntable.

A properly designed turntable bearing relies on a thin film of oil to provide enough pressure so that it works properly. "filling holes" doesn’t help as there should be no metal to metal contact. The counter argument can be made that a rougher spindle surface "grips" the oil better and aids in bearing performance. Having said that the treatment should do no harm, as long as it doesn’t drastically affect viscosity or bearing clearances. Also because TT bearings operate at low rpm bearing "failure" is a possiblity and in this scenario reduced friction of the surfaces can be helpful.

Bruce
Anvil Turntables

don't try to reinvent the wheel…a good synthetic  motor oil works great…Two drops for me once a year on a VPI Scout.

Bruce, Thanks for your expert input.  You wrote, "Also because TT bearings operate at low rpm bearing "failure" is a possibility and in this scenario reduced friction of the surfaces can be helpful."

Why does operation at low rpm's enhance (rather than diminish) the chance for "failure"?  Or maybe I do not understand how you are defining the word "failure".  Also, except in the case where the bearing is deliberately designed to increase drag on the motor so as to help maintain constant speed (e.g. the grease bearing in a Garrard 301), when would reduced friction NOT be helpful? Thanks.