As I recall from reports I've read from builders who work with epoxy over woods which are "oily", or which have a lot of volatile resins -- they tend to wipe the surface of the freshly sanded wood with an alcohol- or acetone-soaked rag before applying stains or finishes.

I don't know if this treatment wipes off any oily resins that were originally inside the cellulose walls of the tree's cells, and which were released by sanding, or it may dissolve those chemicals and allow them to soak deeply into the wood fibers.

However it works the results seem to be either reliably consistent, or a completely bogus myth that is repeated by superstitious woodworkers.

Hmmm. Since I'm the one passing this on, you might consider ME to be superstitious. Ah well.

Personally, I see more potential benefits from a solvent rinse than potential hazards. After banishing any black cats from the vicinity I think I'd wipe the wood surface with acetone and then go mix my epoxy. I work slow, so that would allow about 15 minutes for the acetone to evaporate. I think if any traces remained deep in the pores of the wood they might even help the epoxy soak in a bit deeper--but that is just a guess.

PGJ