I wear leather work gloves, cut it with sheet metal shears or a side grinder with a cutting wheel, and, if cutting from a roll of wire, hang the roll off the edge of the table or work bench to keep it out of the way, and, if necessary, clamp the wire in place. I try to cut h/w cloth as close as possible to the edge of a square to minimize the wires that eat you up...I've donated my share of blood to projects that entail cutting the nasty stuff. You mentioned it being hard to bend...try clamping it in place and bending it over the edge of a board, table, or bench. If you don't let it slip, you can get a nice even bend. If you need more than a 90* angle, put it on a solid surface & tap it down with a hammer. Easy peasey