| Waferboard | A particle panel product made of wafer-type flakes. Usually manufactured to possess equal properties in all directions parallel to the plane of the panel. |
| Wane | Bark or lack of wood from any cause on edge or corner of a piece except for eased edges. |
| Warp | Any variation from a true or plane surface. Warp includes bow, crook, cup, and twist, or any combination thereof. |
| Water Repellent | A liquid that penetrates wood that materially retards changes in moisture content and dimensions of the dried wood without adversely altering its desirable properties. |
| Waterless Urinals | A variety of methods available such as sealed fluid systems "air flush" and some sort of disposable cartridge or other consumable, resulting in significant running costs as well as environmental impact. |
| Water-Repellent Preservative | A water repellent that contains a preservative that, after application to wood and drying, accomplishes the dual purpose of imparting resistance to attack by fungi or insects and also retards changes in moisture content. |
| Watershed | Area of ecosystem(s) bounded by the highest topographic points and focused around where water flows, often streams. It is helpful to remember that all water in an area and the pollutants it carries flows to the center of the watershed. Note that in 1869 John Wesley Powell advocated the use of watersheds, rather than the grid, to determine political boundaries. He thought that policy decisions would better suit the ecological conditions of a particular site. |
| Wavy-Grained Wood Grain | Wood in which the fibers collectively take the form of waves or undulations. |
| Weather Stripping | Thin strips of metal, rubber, vinyl or foam around doors and windows that prevent infiltration of air or moisture. |
| Weathering | The mechanical or chemical disintegration and discoloration of the surface of wood caused by exposure to light, the action of dust and sand carried by winds, and the alternate shrinking and swelling of the surface fibers with the continual variation in moisture content brought by changes in the weather. Weathering does not include decay. |
| Wet Strength | The strength of an adhesive joint determined immediately after removal from water in which it has been immersed under specified conditions of time, temperature, and pressure. |
| Wet-Bulb Temperature | The temperature indicated by the wet-bulb thermometer of a psychrometer. |
| Wettability | A condition of a surface that determines how fast a liquid will wet and spread on the surface or if it will be repelled and not spread on the surface. |
| Wetting | The process in which a liquid spontaneously adheres to and spreads on a solid surface. |
| White-Rot | In wood, any decay or rot attacking both the cellulose and the lignin, producing a generally whitish residue that may be spongy or stringy rot, or occur as pocket rot. |
| WI | Woodworking Institiute, formally known as WIC. A regional association of architectural woodwork manufacturers and suppliers who, through compliance certification, maintain product quality standards and help provide an equitable bidding environment. |
| Window Treatments | Curtains, blinds, shutters, etc. |
| Wood Failure | The rupturing of wood fibers in strength tests of bonded joints usually expressed as the percentage of the total area involved that shows such failure. |
| Wood Flour | Wood reduced to finely divided particles, approximately the same as those of cereal flours in size, appearance, and texture, and passing a 40 to 100 mesh screen. |
| Wood I-Joist, Prefabricated | A structural wood member made by using adhesive to attach wood flanges (LVL, MSR, or high quality dimension lumber) to a plywood or OSB web. |
| Wood Preservative | Any suitable substance that is toxic to fungi, insects, borers, and other living wood-destroying organisms. |
| Wood Substance | The solid material of which wood is composed. It usually refers to the extractive-free solid substance of which the cell walls are composed, but this is not always true. There is not a wide variation in chemical composition or specific gravity between the wood substance of various species. (The characteristic differences of species are largely due to differences in extractives and variations in relative amounts of cell walls and cell cavities.) |
| Wood Wool | Long, curly, slender strands of wood used as an aggregate component for some particleboards. |
| Wood-Based Composite Panel | A generic term for a material manufactured from wood veneer, strands, flakes, particles, or fibers or other lignocellulosic material and a synthetic resin or other binder. |
| Workability | The degree of ease and smoothness of cut obtainable with hand or machine tools. |
| Working Life | The period of time during which an adhesive, after mixing with catalyst, solvent, or other compounding ingredients, remains suitable for use. Also called pot life. |
| Working Properties | The properties of an adhesive that affect or dictate the manner of application to the adherends to be bonded and the assembly of the joint before pressure application (such as viscosity, pot life, assembly time, setting time). |