Kitchen drawer repair for discontinued hardware

Submitted by HornetsnHomebrew t3_11zs8ai in DIY

I have a broken drawer on my American Woodmark kitchen cabinets. The drawer has concealed slides (under the drawer) and the plastic bracket like these at the back of the drawer have failed. As I cannot find an image of these triangular plastic brackets anywhere on the interwebs other than the linked Swisco site, I suspect I will not be able to replace them exactly. I just roamed all over town (HD, Lowes, a kitchen design shop, and a residential hardware shop) looking for a substitute or advice and came up empty. I'm inclined to try the brackets on Swisco, but if anybody has a part recommendation, I would be most appreciative. The metal slides and the drawer are in good, functional condition but the plastic brackets that hold the end of the slides to the back of the cabinet have failed. I'm looking to replace that part. Many thanks to everybody.

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[deleted] t1_jddupam wrote

I don't have experience doing it but a lot of people 3d print hard to find plastic parts like this.

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zedsmith t1_jddyfl1 wrote

It would be easier to just pack out the back of the cabinet with wood of a particular thickness, and attach the drawer slides to that.

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HornetsnHomebrew OP t1_jdef197 wrote

As I’ve thought about this, it occurs to me that you mean I could put a block of wood of appropriate dimensions on the back of the cabinet and screw the rails to that. I should have though of that. Thank you. That may allow me to return the Swisco products.

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zedsmith t1_jdeir8y wrote

Ya that’s what I meant, and is one of the normal ways of installing drawer slides in a cabinet with face frames. 👍🏻

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HornetsnHomebrew OP t1_jddzcj0 wrote

I THINK I can screw new, different brackets to the back panel. In fact that’s my general plan. Just trying to find a good bracket to use.

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zedsmith t1_jde9k46 wrote

The question is— what is this bracket doing that wood and screws alone cannot do?

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HornetsnHomebrew OP t1_jde9tty wrote

A good question. It holds the end of the rail. The rail sits on it and doesn’t have a screw-friendly surface to attach it to the back. The flat surface faces the floor and therefore rests on this (cheesy, low cost, minimal, pisses me off) bracket.

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zedsmith t1_jdea3dc wrote

If you can’t come up with a solution, it would not be the end of the world, imo, to just get a new pair of under mount drawer slides with their corresponding brackets.

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HornetsnHomebrew OP t1_jdeabfj wrote

Agreed. I’m going to try the Swisco brackets and see if they support these rails. If not, then replacing the whole rail is not the end of the world.

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YamahaRyoko t1_jdek49s wrote

I have this same problem with one of the roller bearings. I can't find it anywhere. Same situation with American Woodmark slide hardware. For now, everyone has to 'support' the drawer while taking things out of it. Its the bane of my wife, whos irritated that its been like that for a year.

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HornetsnHomebrew OP t1_jdeu29m wrote

Here’s what I’ve figured out fixing it today: The supports on the back of the cabinet are ambidextrous, so you may be able to swap sides for a temp fox at least. My rails only use one side of the bracket at a time, so the L/R swap works when the other side is intact.

If this doesn’t make sense I’m happy to elaborate.

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