This sounds like me. I am doing something very right or very wrong. It takes me at least 2 days to get my finishes the way I want them, at least to my satisfaction. But when I am finished.....it's good for life. Well.....at least 2 years of everyday use, in and out of pockets, being dropped on concrete, spun around on counters...you get the picture, and it is still just as shinny as the day I gave it to him for his birthday.
The way I do my finishes starts with 2-3 coats of thin CA with the lathe at the highest speed. I fold a paper towel until it's about 1/2 inch wide. Break it in half and just use one half at a time. Fold the paper towel over a pop-cycle stick or other small stick and soak the end of the paper towel with thin CA. 10-12 drops should do. Apply that all the way down the blank. Centrifugal force will keep the CA from going in between your bushings and your blank. To help it cure faster, I use a hair dryer on low speed. HEAT cures CA glue. I will not use any other accelerator. There is a difference between dried and cured. You can tell if it is cured by sticking your nose right down near the blank and taking a big whiff. If you get that burning sense in your nose...it not cured. When you can do that and not smell any of the CA fumes that cause the burning, then it is cured ready for the next coat. Curing can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 30 minutes with the thin CA.
Next is medium CA. This time run your lathe on the slowest speed. Use your folded paper towel under your blank and run a beed of med CA all the way down the blank. The paper towel is there just to keep the CA from dripping off. Spread it evenly but very thick. Turn the hair dryer on low and have it about 2 feet away from the blank. You want to have a nice warm, not hot, flow of air hitting the blank. You do NOT want to cook the blank. Learned that one the hard way. This should take from 45 minutes to 1 hour. Test to see if it is cured by smelling. Repeat. I usually put about 7 to 10 coats of med CA. No sanding in between any of the CA coats. MM sanding from 1500 through 12k. I look through a jewelers loop to see if I need to re-sand with some of the higher grits of MM. After that, I use plastic polish.
Take the blank off the lathe. The bushings have never stuck to the blank with this method. A gentle tap and they come right off. To square up the blank, I use 400 grit sandpaper and stand the bland up on its end. Holding it close to the bottom, go in small circles until it's flat.
I know that this seems like a very long time to spend on one pen, but it's the best I can do and I won't settle for anything less.
Roy