Smooth finish with CA

After an absence from pen turning I have returned and am comparing the pens that I made before to the ones I'm making now. I'm currently turning Redgum with some Fiddleback and some Jarrah. I'm finding that I don't get the same level of smoothness these days that I use to get on the final finish. I use to turn Olive wood a bit and find that those pens are silky smooth even to this day. The Redgum feels smooth on the lathe but after finishing with CA and Swirl Remover I can feel some micro-ripples, can actually see them if I hold the pen up to the light. Now when I turn the blank on the lathe and sand it, it is perfectly smooth as far as I can see. After applying the CA and I only use the Thin type I micro-mesh starting and spending a fair bit of time with the 400 grit equivalent, it all feels fairly smooth and then I progress through the other grits. I may be being pedantic but I'd like these pens to be as smooth feeling as the others I have done previously. Should I expect that these timbers give me the same amount of smoothness? Should they be sealed first, they don't look to be particularly open-grained? I apply b/w 15 and 20 coats of thin CA, sometimes I use accelerator depending on outside weather.