RE: Bending landing gear wire
As a former machinist for many years, I know enough about heat treating to know that unless I know the specifics about a piece of metal, I wouldn't attempt heat treating.
I'm not saying the above method is wrong, it may be dead accurate, but even if it is, it's just way more than I care to deal with.
I use the vise and hammer method, but rather than gringing a radius into the vise jaw, I just clamp the rod between two "Soft Jaws" that I made fron 3/16" plywood. The plywood will dent and allow for a softer radius.
It's worked well for me for many sets of gear.
PS, I agree with the theory of bending PAST the angle you want, and then bending back to the angle