Hofmann VML 16: pneumatic hand-tufting gun for cut and loop pile (Germany)

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Research notes

From search results; pages not opened. Hofmann's exhibitor listing on Messe Frankfurt's Heimtextil site describes the VML 16 as a hand-tufting gun for cut and loop pile. A needle carries the yarn through the backing; in cut-pile mode "a blade then cuts through the yarn and a jet of air blows the tuft through". The listing says "Changing the pile height or yarn colour is very simply achieved with the Hofmann handtufting gun." A Hofmann specification sheet (marked V2022), posted as an exhibitor download on Messe Frankfurt's site, gives, according to search excerpts: pile height 16–45 mm with the standard 6 mm yarn tunnel (a 5+4 mm option is also listed), down to 12 mm with an exchange kit; speed 0–2,000 stitches per minute; motor 220 V, 400 W; air supply 8 bar at 200 l/min. The excerpts say nothing about who the gun is for. The company record (co-hofmann-handtuft) says Hofmann's site describes the VML 16 as used in carpet production worldwide, and lists the SML mini and SML 10-PP loop-pile machines; those models were not checked again here. Sources: https://heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/exhibitor-search.detail.html/hofmann-handtuft-technik-gmbh/mf_1_0010286540_4913646_10000000202601.html · https://exhibitorsearch.messefrankfurt.com/images/original/document_downloads/10000000202601/469619/1760518908425_3827131845.pdf · https://hofmann-handtuft.de/en/ · Research note (Oct 2026): hofmann-handtuft.de could not be opened from the research sandbox (host blocked); the Heimtextil listing and the spec-sheet PDF were seen only as search-result excerpts and were not opened. Check the specifications against the PDF before citing them.