Hi Les ...I am certain it is Douglas fir ....I have been a professional arborist since the mid 1980.s and a wood turner for over 20 years and I own some woodland that is mostly Douglas fir . Please obtain a piece of DF and smell it . also the bark is instantly recognisable , Redwood is very different , a thick fibrous bark and the wood has very little smell , I am not being pedantic , just thought I was being informative ......I was at Bala few weeks ago and wanted to visit your shop but unfortunately it was closed ( Sunday )
That poses a bit of a dilemma, TWiG. I now have two experienced people, each of whom sounds quite convincing. I've spent a while looking at images of both timbers, which hasn't really helped as this piece of timber is not of the straight-grained type that is usually shown to typify the species. I have worked DF many a time and am familiar with the smell, but the smell of this timber was different; sweeter and stronger. Are you sure that Wellingtonia has very little smell, because the Wood Database states that it has a distinct odour. Also, the colour seems too dark for DF, certainly compared to the DF that I've worked in the past.
Sorry we missed you when you were in Bala. We open on Sundays in the summer and around Christmas, but not out of season. It's always good to meet fellow turners at the shop, so do call if ever you're passing again and drop me a line if it's outside shop hours as we live just a 2 minute walk from the shop and it's no bother to pop over there.
Les