Maker space

43788119_1135480189940189_4856292381688856576_n 43879620_1135480293273512_2441814509799604224_nThe other night I popped around the corner to the local maker space.  I was after some wood to complete repairs to my garden shed which have taken me a large part of the summer.  They didn’t have what I wanted but I spent some time there looking around and finding out what was going on.

The site is derelict and waiting for someone to build on it.  In the meanwhile various groups have been allowed to use for low cost.  There was a gardening project growing food in raised box beds although for some reason that has moved across the road to another waste area awaiting development.

On their website it says the following;

“The Forge is a pop-up community maker space in Edinburgh. Based in renovated shipping containers, it’s a place where people can come together to build, design, fix and learn. In a time when many people feel increasingly confused by the pace of technological change, the Forge exists to help us re-engage with how the things around us are made.”

I think this is true in this age of globalisation, eco concern and as our manufacturing has offshored people seem increasingly wanting to reconnect with making and repairing stuff.  Sewing is another area of big interest.  The project is setup for both woodworking and metalworking with a working forge.  People there were making tools and even  a geodesic dome made from fringe poster hoardings.  The group encourage people to come along and show others what to do.  (I’m not one of these experts).  Its recently been set up as a community interest company and looks like its going from strength to strength.  It better to repair and use bits of scrap wood to make useful stuff than throw it away.  More details on the maker space can be found here.

Neil

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