The simplest method of bending wire is by hand. For more precise and comfortable bending, use pliers.
Another option would be to grip the wire with pliers made of a softer material than the wire but finding pliers like that can be difficult as strength and durability are important aspects of pliers.
The simplest method to make one of these is to drill 2 crossing holes through a piece of wood. By cutting the wood at 90 degrees through the centers of the holes, you will end up with 2 pieces of wood with crossing grooves. You could make the grooves by hand if you’re confident in your abilities of cutting precise grooves. A third option would be to use some sort of saw to make the grooves. For example a bandsaw or table saw.
The shapes are segments of the Euler spiral or clothoid curve. There are printable templates of french curves available on the internet if you wish to make one yourself.
Draw the necessary curve or circle onto a piece of paper. Cut the paper along the line you drew. Now, you could use the paper as a template or make a sturdier version by gluing the paper to a piece of wood or plywood and cutting the wood along the line.
You could freehand the curve if precision is not required and the wire is malleable by hand.
Start from the end of the wire. The straight starting section will be your baseline for the rest of the wire.
Sandwich the wire in between the wood and secure it in the vice, don’t apply too much pressure. The straightening is done by pulling the wire through the 2 pieces of wood. Another option is securing one end of the wire in a vice and then pulling along the wire with 2 pieces of wood.
Start by securing a U shaped arch into a piece of wood. This arch can be made out of a sufficiently strong staple or a nail. The arch should have just enough distance between the wood to allow the wire to pass through underneath it. Hammer nails into 2 straight lines with the width of the wire being the distance between the lines. Pull the wire through the row of nails. Repeat if necessary.
Square pliers can be used to make square nooses.
For turning spirals in a vice, a cylindrical metal stick or rod is used. The rod has a slit on one end, matching the thickness of the wire and a lever for turning it on the other end. The rod is secured between 2 hardwood blocks with grooves according cut in them according to the grooves. The diameter of the rod dictates the diameter of the spiral. An alternative method would be to use a threaded rod with a slit and some nuts. The nuts would be turned onto the rod and fastened in the vice. The rod could be turned by turning 2 nuts onto the rod and tightening them against each other, after that the rod could be turned with vice grips, pliers or with a suitable wrench. A lathe with a metal or wood cylinder in it could also be used in place of the rod. The wire could be wound onto the cylinder by turning the lathe by hand or at very low RPM. Optionally, the wire could be guided through a stack of 2 pieces of wood to straighten the wire.
This can be difficult if the wire is thick or strong.
