"Lesbian Welders, San Francisco", USA, 20th century

https://piefed.social/c/historyphotos/p/2111548/lesbian-welders-san-francisco-usa-20th-century

This is going to sound like a joke about a lack of skills but:
I think my #welder is broken which is why I'm having such a hard time getting any #welding done.

It's a small 160A stick welder, and I've done some reasonably good (not horrid) welds in the past.

The reason I suspect breakage is because it seems after being powered on for a while, maybe just minutes, and not really doing any welding - even just idling - suddenly it appears completely unable to strike an arc. I've found that turning it off for 30 seconds before powering it back on makes it strike an arc again just as easily as when just powered on. Then again suddenly no arc again, ad nauseam.

It has a thermal lockout which does not kick in.

It kind of feels like the welder cannot keep the voltage going, but I don't really know what to expect or how to do it safely, so.. any #welders out there?

https://portside.org/2025-11-28/amber-czech-was-murdered-work-tradeswomen-say-it-could-have-happened-any-them

#LabourMovement #Organize #Solidarity
#Welders