A method for manufacturing a compact includes a mixing step of mixing a fiber and a powder of a binder to obtain a mixture; an accumulating step of accumulating the mixture to form a web; a humidifying step of adding water to the web; and a forming step of heating and pressurizing the water-added web to obtain a compact. The binder binds between fiber molecules by the addition of water. The powder has an average particle diameter (D50) of 20.0 μm or less.

A method for manufacturing a compact includes a mixing step of mixing a fiber and a powder of a binder to obtain a mixture; an accumulating step of accumulating the mixture to form a web; a humidifying step of adding water to the web; and a forming step of heating and pressurizing the water-added web to obtain a compact. The binder binds between fiber molecules by the addition of water. The powder has a specific surface area of 0.2 m.sup.2/g or more.

A method for manufacturing a compact includes a mixing step of mixing a fiber and a powder of a binder to obtain a mixture; an accumulating step of accumulating the mixture to form a web; a humidifying step of adding water to the web; and a forming step of heating and pressurizing the water-added web to obtain a compact. The binder binds between fiber molecules by the addition of water. The powder has an average particle diameter (D50) of 20.0 μm or less.

Wood-fiber insulation board is pressed to a uniform thickness and continuously advanced in a horizontal travel direction on a conveyor prior to subdivision into individual panels. The strength of the wood-fiber insulation board is determined by first pressing with an actuator a contact element downward at an actual pressure on a subregion of the advancing wood-fiber insulation board so as produce an actual deformation of the wood-fiber insulation board of between 1% to 7% of its thickness. Then a force sensor determines the actual pressure applied by the contact element to the board that produces the actual deformation and this the determined pressure and the actual deformation are transmitted to a central processor that extrapolates to a standardized deformation based on the determined pressure and actual deformation.