Well, as usual we have as many opinions as we have forum members. 
Don't despair or give up. Even those of us who have been doing it for years can get it wrong as my demo at York proved admirably. As others have said there are alternative finishes that are as good as CA, but it is worth persevering with nonetheless.
Just remember that the objective of the exercise is to get a thin even coat of CA onto the blank. The detail of how you do it is not that important. Ridges are the result of uneven application. The cause of the uneven application is impossible to ascertain without actually watching your method, those suggested are all perfectly reasonable possibilities.
For what its worth I use medium CA applied without BLO with the lathe either running very slowly or turned by hand. Wiped on from side to side quickly and left to dry without accelerator. Three or four even coats is usually enough. a quick wipe with 1500 or 1800 micromesh should remove any ridges, if it doesn't you have cocked up the application. Burnishing cream or Farecla compound (or toothpaste if you wish to emulate Grump) will then bring it to a high gloss. This works 99.9% of the time but then so do the methods that other people have suggested. It's just a matter of keeping at it until you find the one that works for you.
