Making a blank by reinforcing a fiber structure and/or bonding fiber structures together, and use in making composite material parts

A method of making a fiber blank by bonding together porous fiber structures in order to obtain a blank of desired shape, the method comprising the following steps:

• consolidating each porous fiber structure by forming within it a deposit of a refractory material by partially densifying the fiber structure so as to bond together the fibers of the fiber structure to enable the fiber structure to be handled without being deformed, while leaving empty the major fraction of the initial pore volume of the fiber structure;
• putting the consolidated fiber structures together;
• and
• connecting them together by implanting pins of rigid material through the adjoining consolidated fiber structures.