Benicia Makerspace, which began as an Internet fundraising campaign in 2012 before finding its first home in a Benicia Unified School District portable building last September, is about to expand into larger and more permanent headquarters.

A makerspace is a community- or members-operated workshop that unites those with such common interests as computers, technology, science, and digital and electronic arts and gives them a place to collaborate on projects, share knowledge and learn more in a social setting.

Benicia Makerspace, a registered nonprofit organization, was formally incorporated in March 2014 — the same month in which it hosted its first “Mini Maker Faire,” at Benicia Middle School.

That event attracted about 1,250 visitors from across the Bay Area. Among the highlights they experienced was a presentation by speaker Dale Dougherty, founder and executive chairman of Maker Media, publisher of Make magazine and producer of the first Maker Faire in the Bay Area in 2006.

Benicia Makerspace is moving up from its first home in the portable building on school district property to 4592 East Second St., a 2,400-square-foot shop behind ABC Muffler, President Aaron Newcomb said.

With more elbow room comes more machinery that members can use on their projects, he said.

“We’ve got advanced industrial machinery,” Newcomb said. That includes three-dimensional printers and electronic equipment, as well as space for classes of 20 to 25 participants.

“It’s perfect for a workshop,” Newcomb said, adding that the organization is accepting donations of tools, “used but in good shape,” such as drills and wrenches.

Benicia Makerspace is celebrating the move by offering $40-a-month introductory memberships, which Newcomb said is less expensive than most Makerspace organizations in the Bay Area. “Others are $80 to $120 or more each month,” he said.

In exchange for joining the organization, members get around-the-clock access to tools and equipment and well as training in welding, use of 3-D printers and in other skills that would cost nonmembers $50 or more a day. “It really pays for itself right away,” he said.

Just as important is the camaraderie participants experience. “It’s an intangible, being part of a community,” Newcomb said, comparing it to those who work out at a gym with others who are enthusiastic about physical fitness.

At Benicia Makerspace, members will find the same kind of enthusiasm, he said, but it will be about sharing tips and ideas about such projects as building a robot, perhaps making it move and dance.

“Now we can actually do messy projects,” Newcomb said, explaining that such activities were curtailed at the nonprofit’s previous location. “Now we can do welding, woodwork, metal fabrication, things that leave a mess on the floor. People can use things such as a six-inch power metal shears — a ginormous pair of scissors that cuts metal cleanly, for housing or a box. It cuts it like butter.”

The organization also has CnC machines, another type of cutter that can be fed instructions to cut materials such as plywood to precise specifications. “You can cut multiple sheets, and they’ll be identical each time,” Newcomb said.

He called the organization’s new home “a boost to the community,” one that can be an incubator for new ideas and, possibly, new businesses that otherwise might remain stuck in a garage.

Before Saturday’s celebration, Benicia Makerspace’s new home became a project, too, Newcomb said. “We did some modification — we tore down one wall and enhanced the electricity.” It’s still a work in progress, he said. “In a month or so, we’ll have work days, especially Saturdays.”

The open house celebration will take place from 5-8 p.m. Saturday at 4592 East Second St., and will feature local makers demonstrating the projects on which they’re working.

Doug Snyder, owner of California E-Bike, will explain new bicycle technology, and Jason Gouw will describe his own successful Kickstarter project, Cubit, a programmable platform that combines plug-and-play hardware with drag-and-drop software to encourage electronics creativity. Adam Boring will bring his small-batch mead for tasting.

Newcomb said the organization is asking for donations of $5 per person to cover the cost of refreshments.

Those interested may visit the organization’s website, beniciamakerspace.org.