Pine resin can be dissolved in turpentine. Since breathing turpentine fumes is not good for one's health, any cleaning with this product should be done outside, preferably in a light breeze.

Thanks, Eric. Should I seal it after cleaning? I'm going to use pre-stain conditioner, and a dark (red mahagony) stain.

John

I have never used pre-stain conditioner, so I have no opinion on this product. I know from experience that stain will be very uneven if applied over a wood surface that has glue residue or other contaminants present. You have to achieve a clean and uniform surface before staining, or the stain will be blotchy.

Paint thinner will dissolve the resin and is a lot cheaper than real turpentine.
The amount of exposure to ether turpentine or paint thinner in a non working (8 hour a day type working) environment is not enough to be a hazard.

I would have serious doubts about the age of the table top if it is still exuding pine resin.

Hi,
Is this a so-called "pitch pocket" that was exposed by sawing or planing? Or is it just a resinous area of the wood? The former is common to spruce, white pine, maybe other softwoods, and would be remedied by scraping or dissolving the pine tar. That would leave a void to be filled.
A resin-heavy area (pitch streak, sap streak) seen in yellow pine, really can't be remedied- the pitch is part of the wood. A heat gun will make it bubble to the surface, but you're not getting rid of it. The difficulty is that no oil-based finish is going to adhere or even dry on a pitch streak like that. A crafty solution would be to use a router to remove it with a specific outline (like a butterfly shape) and insert an inlay of matching wood.
Casey

Brickeyee:

I know the wood is at least 100 years old. It was countertops in my grandfather's store, and he was old enough to be my great-grandfather, easily. My father got the wood when the store was being remodeled at least 50 years ago. It's been in my possession 32 or 33 years. However, I'll try dissolving the stuff with paint thinner or turpentine. Thanks.

Casey, the wood underneath is solid, so it's not a pocket. I'm afraid it's a "resin-heavy" area, and I didn't really want to cut it out. Just have to try the solvent and see what happens, I suppose.

Thanks, John

Seal the wood with something, it could be a coat or two of shelac. Lightly "cut" or sand between coats . A 280 grit will be fine. Now you can stain and hopefull this will eliminate the uneveness you would probaly get from the sanding and resin .