How to seal/coat/varnish an old wooden table?

flakypastry

I bought an old table which opens up when you turn it around. The underside is sealed but when you open it out the wood is unsealed and raw. I want to seal/coat it/put a varnish on it (I know nothing about wood) but I don't have the foggiest idea how to start or what type of wood it is. It has a nice grain though.

I would upload photos but it's saying as I am a new user I cannot do this? If anyone could advise on how to go about sealing/coating/varnishing it?

Thanks.

john_howard_fisher

sorry flakypastry but newbie cant post links or upload photos. it to stop the spammers. upload on flickr and then add the link with spaces between the "dots" of the URL and i'll post a proper link for u.
hth