SilverMoonshot is Out of This World: First 3D Printed Silver Shot Glass
Clare Scott
I know a lot of people who collect shot glasses. Some of them pick up a new one every time they go on vacation, and end up with towers of shot glasses with touristy slogans and pictures of palm trees. (I’m not judging; I have a very obnoxious-looking shot glass from the Outer Banks that’s covered in green glitter. I only bought it because the first one I picked out melted in the dishwasher. Ah, vacation.) Sports teams are also frequently honored with shot glasses; after all, you’re going to need something appropriate for your celebratory shots when your team wins the championship. Being from Cleveland, I wouldn’t know what that’s like, but I do have a very nice blue Cleveland Indians shot glass, just in case, because I believe in hope. There’s always next year. Or the one after that. Or…
Florin Grigore decided that he wanted to create something to honor his love of outer space, which had fascinated him since early childhood. He was particularly interested in space exploration and its human side – the brilliance and courage of those who became the first in space, the first on the moon, as well as those who died in tragic missions gone wrong. To honor those explorers, he decided to drink to them from a fittingly themed, 3D printed shot glass, which he designed and printed through Shapeways.
“Knowing about all the sacrifice that (went) in, I wanted to make a design that can represent the main ideas of: ‘first in space,’ first step on the moon,’ ‘first moment in the history of human kind’ and not last to drink for the moments and the sacrifice that made them written in our history,” said Grigore. “In space we are not different races, we are only humans.”
So he set about looking for a material to give his shot glass an outer-space feel. Metal was the first material to come to mind, and, while researching different types of metals, he discovered that silver is commonly used to purify water on space flights. Perfect. He then designed the glass’s outside to look like the surface of the moon, with a single footprint on it to represent “one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind,” and the SilverMoonshot was created with his copyrighted “moonshot” pattern.
He also discovered, to his surprise, that his shot glass was apparently the world’s first 3D printed sterling silver shot glass.
“When I made it I did not think that it is the first 3d printed sterling silver shot glass in the world, but after looking on the whole internet I found that there is no photo of a real product ever made so here it is,” he said.
The finished product is polished to a bright silver sheen and has a metallic, outer-space look, just what Grigore was going for. The tiny glass only holds a little bit of liquid, but it also contains a lot of ideas and a lot of history.
“The product is inspired by the first step on the moon and is called Moonshot, because (it) is a literal moonshot in 3D printing,” Grigore told 3DPrint.com.
He also told us, by the by, that he will “do a porcelain version next year , but an espresso ‘shot glass’ with a same way style dish.” So keep you eyes open for the next shot! You can also check out more of his designs on his Shapeways shop, numarul7.
“Last but not least, I was informed that SilverMoonshot was finished from production phase on the Super Blood Moon day,” Grigore added. “I did not expect that to happen!”
