Raven turntable owners:oiling & what type?


It seems the instructions for oiling the axle/bearing/bearing well indicate a very small amount of oil. I've found extra oil is needed to allow the platter to be more smoothly laid into place and lifted off for cleaning and re-oiling. Too little, and things dry out. What has been your experience with this, and do any of you use a brand or type of oil different from that supplied by TW Acustic? If so, how does it compare regarding effectiveness?
opus88
Thanks Elinor. My post came out poorly worded/edited. Fir some reason my Username and Password were not recognized at the time I tried to post.

My bearing is not defective, but a "loose" fit with the platter, compared to other high quality turntables I have encountered.

I have already asked Jeff about the new oil for my original bearing, thinking my post above had not been accepted. He recommended a retrofit of the new bearing/spindle.

I would like to hear from anyone who has changed to the new bearing.
Ianlane, I'm not certain what you are saying. I never indicated that I thought you had a faulty bearing. I only thought if you had run your TT dry for a long time it could have worn down and hence your loose fit. TW designs and manufactures to a very high standard so a new bearing should work just fine.
Hi Elinor, Sorry for any confusion. I bought my Raven One new, directly from TW. I have cleaned and re-lubed the bearing every six months or so ever since. I have been very happy with the performance of the turntable as a whole.

Compared to something like the original Teres bearing for example the original Raven bearing seems to be a "looser" fit. From the OP comments above it appears that the fit of the new Raven bearing is quite "snug".

I did not think the new bearing/spindle assembly could be easily retrofitted to older Raven Ones - hence my original query just about the new oil. Evidently this is not the case. Jeff Catalano describes the change as "dramatic" - a strong descriptor from Jeff who is honest to a fault and not given to hyperbole. So I am interested to read of any end users' experiences with this change.

Thanks again for your comments. They are much appreciated.
Ianlane, I don't own your TT. I have a Raven which is close to Anniversary status. My bearing is still a pretty snug fit after 5 years of heavy rotation. Obviously there is something more going on with your table. I think Jeff and Thomas can be trusted. Neither one of them as you say makes unjust claims regarding performance of their products.
I will soon be taking delivery of a new Black Night platter option for my original Raven AC. I have an early version of the AC. The upgrade I assume will be two fold. One, a new bearing developed for the Black Night, and second the extra mass of the copper platter. I will provide everyone here with a brief description of the improvements.
I heard the new platter option at the past RMAF. The whole system was impressive to say the least.