Makita 3803A groove cutter

[GRadice]

I've searched the board and there doesn't seem to be a review of this machine. They are or were popular in Japan but as far as I know never sold in North America. I just bought one and thought I'd start a review.

For those who don't know, this is basically a portable dado cutter. But rather than using stacked blades it uses separate cutters of different widths. Very handy for cutting long grooves or rabbets when you have to take the tool to the work.


 

 

 

It is mostly all cast aluminum. The only plastic is the front handle. The only steel is in the fence and some other smaller bits. It is hefty at about 15 pounds.

I bought mine on the big auction site from a Japanese seller. These retail new for about $750 or so but there are many available used for more like $200 to $250.Mine was on the low end of that.

Mine came in its original old school solid wood, finger jointed box and included the edge guide, a rabbeting fence, the wrenches for changing cutters, four cutters, six zero clearance inserts, and the manual (in Japanese only).

 

If you buy used I advise looking for one that comes with as many cutters as possible or at least one of the width you think you will use the most. Cutters are expensive to buy new (roughly $70 to $120 each or more). There were originally 38 different cutters available although I suspect few would have reason to buy them all. They came in 2 wing or 4 wing versions. I think the 4 wing versions were made for rabbeting? In that case one could buy a wider one and use the fence to cutter narrower rabbets. Most of the cutters are 120 mm in diameter except for the three big ones that are 110 mm. As you can see, the two wing cutters go from 3 to 36 mm and the four wing go from 2.4 to 36 mm.




 

Here is a 4 wing, 21 mm cutter. It is a beast.





Here is a 4.5 mm cutter showing the adjustable zero clearance inserts.



 

There is no dust collection port. Instead, chips are ejected through a very large chute. The chute is removed to change cutters. A single wing nut holds the chute in place. No tool required to remove the chute.



 

The motor was built to run on 50-60 cycle 100 VDC.

 

I know two people who use this in the USA often and both say it runs fine on our 120-125 volt service. I have run mine for just a few seconds so I can't confirm that. If you are nervous about burning it out you can get a step down transformer and run it from that. The stock Japanese two prong plug fits our North American outlets. Mine came with an alligator clip ground but of course you could swap in a three prong plug.

 


That's all for now. If anyone has questions let me know. I'll be trying it out soon and can better answer questions if I know of them in advance.















 

[Ljohnsaw]

 :P
Might be cool for routing timbers to inset wiring.

[Walnut Beast]

Looks pretty nice! 

[GRadice]

:P
Might be cool for routing timbers to inset wiring.

It would be perfect for that.
It can also be used for cross cutting, like for lap joints, either free hand or with this way cool "foot stabilized" fence accessory. Take that, Festool!