Patent ID: 6843946

Claim:
A mold for forming wood flakes into a molded wood flake part comprising: a top mold die including a surface and a punch extending from the surface for forming a hole in the part; and a bottom mold die including a surface having a punch receiving aperture; said surface of said top mold die and said surface of said bottom mold die defining a cavity therebetween; said panch projecting, into said cavity from said surface of said top mold die, and including a tapered upper portion and a cylindrical lower portion for, forming the hole in molded parts of varying thickness, said punch including a tapered upper section defining an upper opening of a first radius in a top surface of the molded part and a cylindrical lower section defining an opening of a second radius in a bottom surface of the molded part, said tapered upper portion configured to extend sufficiently far into the molded part to facilitate withdrawal of said punch from the hole formed therein, and said cylindrical lower portion being sufficiently long that regardless of variations in part thickness, the bottom opening in the hole in each part formed will have the same second radius, defined by said lower cylindrical portion.