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Puen Chit Nam (Bamboo Water Squirt) — a 3-4 cm Bamboo Barrel Pierced at the Node, a Plunger with a Cloth-Wrapped Tip That Fits Snugly, and a Bamboo Handle; Draw Water In and Push to Squirt, for Songkran
ปืนฉีดน้ำ (puen chit nam, water squirt) is made from bamboo and squirts water. Children make them to play with in the hot season and at the northern new year festival (pi mai mueang, Songkran).
This blueprint makes a real bamboo water squirt to the sizes in the source.
Beginner
About 1 hour
Instructions
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1
Real sizes
Real sizes
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2
Barrel-and-plunger toys, before it
Barrel-and-plunger toys, before it
The cork popgun compresses air to drive out a cork; the water squirt draws water into the barrel and pushes it out.
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3
Read from the source
Read from the source
"Dip the end in a bucket of water and pull the plunger back; water is drawn into the barrel. Push the plunger forward and water squirts out of the barrel." (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author not named, CC BY 4.0)
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Barrel
Barrel
Choose long-internode bamboo 3-4 cm across. Cut off the node at one end and keep the node at the other. Pierce a hole through the remaining node as the water outlet.
Materials for this step:
Bamboo Poles1 pieceTools needed:
Knife
Awl5
5
Plunger
Plunger
Shave bamboo longer than the barrel and wrap cloth round its tip so it fits snugly in the barrel.
Materials for this step:
Fabric1 piece6
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Handle
Handle
Fit another piece of bamboo tightly on the other end of the plunger as a handle.
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7
Real images
Real images
Drawings of the bamboo water squirt (Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, author not named, CC BY 4.0)
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How to play
How to play
Push the plunger into the barrel right up to the outlet hole, dip the end in a bucket of water and pull the plunger back; water is drawn into the barrel. Push the plunger forward and water squirts out.
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Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting the water squirt.
Flow
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History and limits
History and limits
Northern children make water squirts in the hot season and at pi mai mueang. Take care with the knife and the pointed iron.
Source: Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre, Traditional Objects of Everyday Use database, "ปืนฉีดน้ำ", author not named (CC BY 4.0 licence).
**Limits** The source gives no barrel length, outlet size or plunger length. The illustrations are drawings.
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