- under the finish; i.e., the finish is gone and you are seeing what was u= nder it (which isn't wood)
The Chris's grandfather made the table, so I would think the table top is n= ice wood, appropriate for clearcoating to show the nice wood. Painting, or= maybe even staining, such a table would be abnormal.
One thing I had thought of was there was some damage and someone patched/pu= ttied (filled in, somehow) those areas, then (possibly?) *applied a clearco= at over the repair. It's hard to tell, for sure, what is there, as per th= e picture.
*Chris says the finish is completely gone over these spots, hence, has the = areas simply been filled in with something, for filling divot(?)/trauma dam= aged.
I often visit this forum -
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- maybe the pros, here, can give another opinion or further insight= .=20
Chris, can you possibly get some further history from your mother, regardin= g the "damage" or some possible refinishing work in the past?
Whether you try the repair, yourself, or refinish the whole top or get some= one to repair/refinish it, something will have to be done to those spots. = I would test sand (or scrape), lightly at first, a small area to see if the= white comes off or is affected, somehow, just to get some idea of what is = there: Whether it is separate from the clearcoating, imbedded into the cle= ar coating or is the clear coating, itself, that has been changed. Posting= a pic of any change, as per sanding/scraping, might help diagnose the issu= e for subsequent recourse.
Sonny