Hand tufting guns are still used to mend broadloom at final inspection
Research finding · not yet checked at the source
- Date
- 2026 (conversation)
- Held by
- Shaw Industries (design team, in conversation)
- Themes
- Hand-tufting tools & the gun, Machine tufting & Dalton
Cite this source
“Hand tufting guns are still used to mend broadloom at final inspection.” Research note.
Research notes
In casual conversation, Shaw Industries' design team told Tim Eads that hand-held tufting guns are still used on the broadloom line to fix mistakes found at final inspection. Supporting record: William H. Satterfield's "Hand-held Tufting Mending Gun" (US5090341A, Dalton, filed 1990), which cites the portable tufting machines of the 1950s and 60s as prior art (pat-us5090341a). Why it matters: the hand gun has a permanent place inside machine production, as well as in custom studios (chapter: Hand tools and the tufting gun). To confirm: a written or photographed source (a mill tour, an equipment catalogue or trade-press piece on carpet mending).