*I sand to 320 or 400 and then swap out the steel bushings (if I'm using them) for finishing bushings.
*I then sand the wood, starting with 100 grit to at least 600. (It may be overkill but it works for me. Note that I do not use each grit for long. A couple of seconds and I can usually move on.) By the time I'm done I've actually sanded the blank a touch further than the final diameter. I don't measure, it almost always works out.
*Use denatured alcohol on a paper towel to clean up any residual sawdust.
From here I have adapted a method from a video by Tim Nicholas of Wood-N-Whimsies. The video deals with working one of their inlay blanks but this works for me.
*Start your lathe at low or medium speed. I use 875 rpm, which is a slow as it goes.
*Take and fold a paper towel lengthwise until it's about an inch wide. Put a bit of thin CA on it and then apply to your pen. Press to work it into the wood. Keep the towel moving so that it doesn't stick. Let it sit --leave the lathe on-- for a minute or so. Do not use accelerator at this point. It might foam up. Repeat twice more.
*Spray a small amount of accelerator on the blank. Wait a moment and wipe off any excess with a different paper towel.
*Fold your paper towel down about an inch, wet it with a small amount of this CA and apply it. Do three coats this way and then use accelerator again. Fold it again and repeat. That's nine coats of thin CA. Look for problems after each three. If necessary, sand gently between coats to even things up or remove the odd bit of towel or dust.
*Get another towel folded and apply three times three coats of medium CA. Use the accelerator between each three. You needn't use much for each coat. Too much will leave waves. You can always add more.
*After the final accelerator, sand. I use the PSA pads the came with an "I can't believe this finesh" (or somesuch) kit. I start with the roughest and work my way through each grit, wiping with a damp paper towel in between.
*After the final grit, I put a couple of coats of One Step (or the generic version) on and it's done.
FYI, it's taken longer to type this than it takes to do.
Cheers,
Jerry