Manufacture of wood fiber hardboard

Claim 1

IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HEAT AND PRESSURE CONSOLIDATED WOOD FIBER HARDBOARD, WHEREIN WOOD HAS BEEN REDUCED SUBSTANTIALLY TO FIBERS AND SAID FIBERS HAVE BEEN SUBJECTED TO AN AQUEOUS DIGESTION WHEREIN A SUBSTANTIAL QUANTITY OF WATER SOLUBLE DERIVATIVES THEREOF ARE PRODUCED, THE FURTHER STEPS COMPRISING WET FELTING SAID FIBERS TO FORM A POROUS WOOD-FIBER MAT CONTAINING A SUBSTANTIAL PROPORTION OF SAID WATER SOLUBLE DERIVATIVES, DRYING THE MAT TO A MOISTURE CONTENT OF LESS THAN 10%, EFFECTING SAID DRYING OF SAID MAT IN A MANNER WHEREBY A SUBSTANTIAL PROPORTION OF SAID WATER SOLUBLE DERIVATIVES ARE CAUSED TO MOVE TO A THIN OUTER SKIN OF EACH FACE OF SAID MAT, HEATING SAID THIN OUTER SKIN OF EACH FACE SUFFICIENTLY TO CAUSE SAID WATER SOLUBLES ADJACENT SAID FACES TO BE CONVERTED TO A SUBSTANTIALLY WATER INSOLUBLE STATE WITHOUT SUBSTANTIALLY HEATING THE MAT INWARD FROM SAID SKIN, WITHOUT CONSOLIDATING SAID MAT TO A SPECIFIC GRAVITY GREATER THAN APPROXIMATELY 0.2 LESS THAN THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF THE ULTIMATE HARDBOARD, AND THEN CONSOLIDATING SAID MAT BY SUITABLE HEAT AND PRESSURE.