My newbie experience with CA was very simple (after I pitched my old "thin" CA and bought some new stuff that was actually thin). Turn, Sand, MM a little bit, then start applying thin CA with a paper towel. Couple drops on the towel and rub, run a "bead" of glue along the length of the blank while holding the paper towel against it... whatever, they both worked for me. Do that a bunch of times (usually until the fumes start to get to me) and then step out of the room for a few minutes to clear my head and let the CA finish curing. Come back and run through all 9 MM, voila!
YMMV of course and there are tons of articles and threads on the CA finish. I believe it was Russ who started a thread a few weeks back that pointed out that the CA finish is as simple as sanding the wood smoth, slathering on a bunch of CA (or CA and blo, whatever floats your boat), and sanding it smooth again. voila, finished!
-Rick