Rackmounting that which should not be rackmounted

Very nice, and I like the idea of using a local auto paint shop.

One idea, if you just want to make the one-off bespoke panel, but still support anything bigger than a RasPi cantilevered out the back of it, is to combine your custom panel with an off-the-shelf (ha) rackmount shelf.

You can get shelves that are fairly thin but sturdy sheet steel, that have a lip and clearance below (such as for room for zip ties or non-flush screws from the bottom. And you can also get ones that are flush with the bottom of the unit, and use adhesive (including Velcro pads) to mount the components on top.

If you want an easy way to make a front panel that doesn't look as good as the one in the article, you can get a rackmount gap filler panel, which will probably be thinner steel sheet metal then the aluminum one, and drill/Dremel/lasercut? whatever holes you need in it.

Another option is starting with a rackmount drawer, such as those by some DJs/musicians in road cases. It's a rackmount front panel, plus an all-sides enclosure rest of it. Which you can unlock and slide out. to access the internal components, without unracking. You can drill/cut air holes. Cabling to the rear will vary depending on the design.

Recently I was introduced to 10" racks, which to me, seem absolutely perfect for home use. Sadly very few manufacturers have adopted the 10" standard.

A lot of home / small business networking gear would fit perfectly into a 10" rack, but you'd have to mount most of it on shelves.

For 2D design, I highly recommend QCAD (https://qcad.org/en/)

I discovered it when I was preparing materials for waterjet cutting, and I was astounded at the quality of the software and its huge range of features.

It's multi-platform, and very attractively priced.

If I didn't know before there is such a thing as a standard internet reference object for scale, I do know it now :)

I intended to move my home server (an am4 system in an old fractal case) to a rack, but it just never happened. Instead I found that it lies perfectly at the bottom of the rack. I am probably never going to move that system over. I can still access the drives just fine, and there is no psu shroud in the case, so I can route new cables without opening the back panel.

I recently stripped a washing machine. Found that the frame could be ideal for rack mounting stuff. It's a bit more than 19"

Way more stuff should be modular, but our existing popular modular standards are kind of outdated, and people think it is against Engineering Law(XKCD § 927) to make any new ones.

Everyone seems to have a "Made to fit" mentality where they want solutions to feel like mathematical equations derived from the task, with no arbitrary decisions made by an engineer.

I wonder how many things could benefit from some kind of standardization, if we had a culture of looking for and creating standards?

Would things get unpleasant and unnerving if we made consumer electronics to standard sizes, or would we get all kinds of really cool creative racks to put stuff in?