Vitap unveils CNC for sound-absorbing panels

Vitap introduces its Point Grooving CNC machine for the manufacturing of sound-absorbing acoustical panels.

Riccardo Azzoni, owner of Atlantic Machinery in New Milford, Conn. — the exclusive importer and distributor for Vitap in North America — explained that sound-absorbing panels are becoming more popular in the wood industry to address noise concerns in all types of environments from theaters to private residences.

“We believe acoustical panels are going to be very important in the future. Some are drilled on one side, but a lot are grooved on the opposite side for a different visual appeal than just the holes. So Vitap has been involved in developing a similar machine using plates instead of drills. The plates are movable on two axes and can groove the other side of the panel according to a specific pattern. So you can achieve whatever design you want and the machine optimizes the panel automatically,” Azzoni says.

Different blades can be used for creating various grooving patterns. The patterns can be designed from an office computer or loaded directly onto the machine’s computer.

“Typical CNC machines will do one point at a time, but this will do multiple groves at one time, giving you a tremendous savings in time and the same optimization benefits as with the acoustical panels,” Azzoni adds.

The machine accepts panels up 49-1/4” wide and requires about 40 sq. ft. of floor space. The base price is about $130,000.

For more, visit www.atlanticmach.com.

This article originally appeared in the March 2017 issue.