What finish did you use, please ?
I'm a retired engineer and teacher so please forgive my verbose answer.
I know that opinions vary widely, but so far, I have had the best luck using Stick Fast brand "CA Wood Finish Thin" and "CA Wood Finish Medium" along with their Activator. I generally use 4-6 coats of thin with 90 seconds between coats and as many as 12 coats of medium with a quick spritz of Activator between them. (I don't know if it is the same stuff as what is labeled just Stick Fast "CA Glue" or if there is something different in the formula for the stuff that is labeled "CA Wood Finish".
I am using Viva Vantage paper towels as applicator pads and I apply very thin but even coats. I'm sure that I have much more CA going into the trash on the pads than gets onto the pen, but the thin coats work well for me as I never have any buildup that requires sanding for smoothing it out. I can go right from finish to Micro Mesh wet sanding. I tried the closed cell foam initially, but never could get the knack and always wound up with a rough finish that needed relatively heavy sanding - and I had sand-through problems on occasion. (I'm going to try the Viva Multi-Surface Cloth and Viva Signature Cloth when my supply of Viva Vantage is exhausted as the Vantage was discontinued).
I also use the blue rouge on a tied cotton wheel for buffing followed by a loose flannel wheel for final polish. I used to use satin and gloss liquid polishes, but I occasionally had problems with white dots of polish getting into pinholes in the finish, but everything has been great since I went to dry buffing instead.
I have been tempted though to try the Glueboost system out as the reviews have been very good; however, I am comfortable with my current materials and regimen, so why change until I have to.
Regards,
Dave