My kitchen is missing a drawer. I have rebuilt the box but need help finding or creating a replacement drawer face.
I have looked at hardware stores and they don't seem to have the correct style.
Is there a better place where I could purchase the drawer face? Is there somewhere that would build one for me? Router a blank? I have a router but I'm not sure I correct bit would I be able to purchase a blank slab face and do it myself?
Any help in completing my project would be appreciated.
In theory, there are places where you could purchase the drawer face. If you can find one, you should also buy a lottery ticket because you would be exceedingly lucky if the house wasn't built this decade :)
A few suggestions that will depend on what's available in your area and your budget.
Go to a shop that specializes in trim/moulding/millwork. Go when you think it will be slow. Show them the drawer. They will be able to duplicate it exactly by having a custom knife ground and run the single drawer. This will cost a lot more than it's worth, but is possible. ($150 - $200 for the custom knives, plus setup/material costs and probably minimums to deal with).
The shop may have a similar profile on hand, and can run it for you. Or they might suggest a bit size/style you can purchase. I can't quite see from the photo but it's something in the Ogee family. I'm not an expert here.
If you can find a bit that is close, do that! Do a few test pieces and try to make adjustments through sanding or using moulding planes (you'd want to pick up a small hollow and round off the local used market). Don't underestimate the power of sand paper wrapped around various size dowels. That could be fun, or completely maddening!
Depending on how good you do with #3 it may be an awesome match, or it could stick out like a sore thumb. If the latter, consider swapping that front for another in your kitchen. If you have a lone cabined in one spot (separated by the stove for example) you can move the oddball front to that spot and use its former front for the high visibility area.
In the spirit of small projects becoming large ones :) you could 'redo' all of your drawer faces with something that isn't a dead on match for the existing but fits with your current lowers and uppers.
If it were me, I'd shop for the router bit, do some strategic sanding and call it done.
Good luck!
You should absolutely be able to closely or exactly replicate this yourself if you have a router, possibly with some careful scraping or sanding to refine results1. You'll need a router 'table' but it doesn't have to be a formal router table, the most basic stand-in will work fine if you're careful.
But if you don't trust your online shopping skills you'll need to do some boots-on-the-ground shopping to identify the bit or bits available to you that will be needed to closely match this profile if its dimensions are unusual (can't tell from the photo).
It is quite possible you'll find one bit (a Roman ogee bit) that will be a close match by itself, which would then need no or minimal scraping/sanding to refine the profile. But no way to know in advance, so I'd suggest you go in preparing to have to route the profile in stages with 2-3 bits2.
Some notes on a few possibly not-obvious points that may be helpful.
Your starting blank must be the right size, including exactly to thickness after the front is fully sanded before you start.
Time spent looking for a good grain match to the existing drawers (or just the one drawer that will be closest to the new one) will not be wasted3.
Remember to route the end-grain surfaces first.
Now obviously the prospect of it possibly requiring 2-3 bits raises the question: will it be worth it? This is obviously partially a judgement call for you to make, but purely on a monetary basis it's possible that if there are any local woodworkers or small shops that do kitchen work in solid wood that they could knock one of these out, using their existing wide selection of router bits, for a very modest price. Honestly, I'd expect it to cost less than the bits if you buy decent bits and are paying full retail4.
Then all you have to do is face the prospect of getting a colour and finish match :-o
Late thought, it would probably be useful to ask for help on this on a dedicated router forum where you'll get responses from a large pool of members which includes numerous professionals and semi-professionals, some of whom I'd bet are used to solving this sort of problem.
1 It's normal to have to scrape or sand routed show surfaces anyway, so this is just an extension of what you'll be doing anyway. Even if the sanding needed is more than you'd really want to do remind yourself you only have to do it this one time. Just go to it and you'll be done before you know it.
2 E.g. a shallow ogee bit and a straight bit.
3 If we assume this is red oak, you'll probably be tempted to look only at red oak but be driven by the grain you can see and not by species, or colour. What I'm getting as is you might find a piece of white oak that more closely matches than any of the red you see when you're buying. Since you'll be staining and/or using a coloured finish some variation between the colour of your board and the underlying wood of the existing fronts won't matter that much.
4 But if you buy the bits you have the bits, with their potential for future use....
