On a desk below a bright window sits a wooden cube, a rainbow mess of wires spraying from its top and sides forming a 3D printer. Four metres away sits a mini beer brewery that looks like a 1920s refrigerator in dull black. Under one of the taps, a plastic cup has a skiff of  brew in the bottom.

Another two metres and there are chisels, lathes and saws, sawdust and wooden workbenches. Next, a propane forge, anvils, hammers. Tucked under the bench, a casting forge for bronze work.

The Victoria Makerspace, on Central Saanich Road, is the hobby shop of one of the most diverse range of talents on the south Island. Its members are designers, woodworkers, blacksmiths, hackers and do-it-yourself brewers.

Makers are part of a growing worldwide trend with roots in the artisan movement. The idea is people can make the things they need by learning from local experts, rather than buying products exported from faraway markets.

B次元官网网址淭he thing most driving me is building a community of people who like to learn. Really neat things come out of it,B次元官网网址� says Derek Jacoby.

Jacoby started Victoria Makerspace a year and a half ago. It began as a hackerspace B次元官网网址� a society of people who develop open hardware and media B次元官网网址� but became a makerspace for more diverse talents soon thereafter.

B次元官网网址淭he mix [of talents] is sort of a model that I think is really making a name for itself,B次元官网网址� Jacoby says.

He likens the space to a library, where people can gain access to information, or in this case tools and know-how, for a certain project.

Thomas Gray signed on with the local Makerspace with Jacoby from the start. He leaves his laser cutter at the space B次元官网网址� a tool well out of the reach of most peopleB次元官网网址檚 budgets B次元官网网址� for others to use.

He said of the cutter, B次元官网网址�30 years from now, this is going to be astounding stuff and people are going to have one at home. ThatB次元官网网址檚 why I think itB次元官网网址檚 important to see this stuff now. My kids are going to do their university projects with a laser cutter.B次元官网网址�

With the goal of meeting other makers in the region and possibly making connections that can help the Makerspace grow beyond its hacker, wood and metal shops, Jacoby and the spaceB次元官网网址檚 members are hosting the IslandB次元官网网址檚 first Mini Maker Faire.

The deadline for makersB次元官网网址� applications is June 15.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e really trying to reach out to people who make things with their hands,B次元官网网址� Jacoby says.

What is a 3D printer?

Looks strange, sounds impossible. Using a computer generated design, the printer accepts and melts plastic. The melted plastic is slowly pumped in thin strings onto a platform that moves on a two-dimensional plane. As the strings build and pile onto each other, the computer generated image becomes a 3D object.

Vancouver Island Mini Maker Faire

B次元官网网址� What: Like a trade show for makers

B次元官网网址� Where: Panorama Recreation Centre, 1885 Forest Park Dr., North Saanich

B次元官网网址� When: Deadline for applications: June 15. Faire: July 28-29

B次元官网网址� Who: Makers, and people curious to find out what the maker movement is all about. All ages

B次元官网网址� How much: Starting at $30 to show what you make. Admission to the faire for non-makers is $15.

B次元官网网址� Connect: vi.makerfaire.ca