My first woodworking restoration project. Fantastic old dining table. Looking a bit worsse for wear. So I sanded it down to the wood. Looks like cherry. Beautiful. On the advice of my local harware shop, I added 4 coats of alkyde resin varnish, leaving at least 24 hours between coats. But it never seems to get really hard. Even after more than 10 days, I can still scratch by running my finger nails over it. So it really can't be used as a family dining & general use table.

Any advie on how to get it up and running gratefully received