I am making some dining table leaves for a friend. The table is about 42″ wide, 5′ long and oval in shape without leaves. It is interesting to me in that it extends a long way.  I am making 6 12″ wide leaves and there is room for at least one more. The history and age are unknown, but I think it is pretty old…at least pre-war. The finish is old orange shellac. My question is about what kind of wood the existing top is made of. At first, I thought it was oak, but soon realized that it is not. In the very small spot where I can access clean end grain (the side of a hinge mortise), I can see that there are endgrain pores like the oaks, hickories, and ashes. However, there are no surface ray flecks (is that the correct term) as with red and white oak. Also, the grain pattern is much finer. The small spot where I can examine the pores doesn’t allow much to distinguish species. The growth bands are very close. So there appears to be only one or two rows of pores. It appears that the pores contain tyloses, but it could be dirt and finish. What really has me baffled is the weight. I have one of the drop-down ends in the shop and the heft of it feels more like pine. I calculated the volume, weighed it and calculated about 25 lb/cf. My scale is not very accurate. So, allowing a couple of pounds error in the scale, it could be 33 lbs/cf. Either way, it is lighter than the oaks, hickories, and ashes. Could the wood have dried out this much over the years?  Are there any other lighter weight woods that also have end grain pores?