Abstract: A welding wire holding device comprising a wire dispensing housing, the lower floor thereof extending downward and forming a handle, the handle being of a size and shape suited to be gripped by a welder's gloved hand, a wire compression roller rotatably mounted within the housing, a wire driving roller rotatably mounted within the housing, a thumb wheel rotatably mounted within the housing, the wire driving roller, the compression roller and the thumb wheel being aligned and configured within the housing to allow the thumb of a welder's gloved hand holding the device to rotate the thumb wheel, causing counter-rotation of the wire driving roller, causing a frictional thrust to be imposed upon a welding wire passing through the housing and between the wire driving roller and the wire compression roller, thus dispensing the welding wire forward and outward from the device.