Thanks! I used water based clear General Finishers Wood Turners Finish. Since I'm new to this, I thought I would start off easy. Any suggestions on some different finishes?
For wood pens, CA seems to be the finish of choice, and it's definitely mine. There are others, but I prefer the CA. It shines up really nice and really brings out the grain in wood. For some reason, it gets a rap as being difficult - lots of people seem to have trouble with CA finishing for some reason. I don't understand why, really. I've always had good luck with it, so I'd definitely give it a shot. Maybe I've just gotten lucky, or live in a climate where CA goes on easily.
That said, there are a couple of ways to screw it up very easily. Don't let your applicator - especially if you use paper towel - stay in contact with the blank for more than a second. The CA sets up very quickly and will grab the paper towel. That's a start over unless you like paper towel chunks stuck to your finished pen.
Either apply CA between centers with no bushings, or use some sort of non-stick bushings. CA will stick to metal bushings, making removal of the blank difficult to do without ruining the edges of the finish.
In any case, check the library - lots of good info on finishes and everything else in there. Good luck!