This paper deals with the control of the vibrations of an automatic cutting machine with a cartesian kinematic chain. A particular application of the method of structural modifications is considered, since a small number of frequency response function is available. The Sherman-Morrison formula is used to predict the effect of a tuned vibration absorber (TVA) on the vibrations of the machine generated by the cutting tool; the advantages and the limits of this method are discussed. In order to improve the cutting speed, the cutting head moves along the linear guides with relevant accelerations that can excite the TVA, motion induced vibrations are analyzed with a lumped element model.