At least for MT's, the angle is set right in the knuckle and it is where it should be. The trip wire height, however, is rarely correct. I put in a very mild bend at the very end, only up about .015, so that there's a little less chance of a dragging trip pin hanging on the end of a switchpoint under load. If you don't have the height gauge from MT, get one. It has a steel gauge with the proper knuckle height and also a .010 piece of steel as the trip gauge. It also sets magnets properly. And you really do want to use the .010 height gauge. and check things before a car goes into service. It's probably the most overlooked detail on working reliably with MT's. I've always just used longnose pliers rather than the custom pliers. As long as the force to the knuckle is pushing back into the shank you won't damage anything. If you're buying new material, be aware that the "RDA" feature is what keeps couplers from pulling apart vertically - a real problem with pre-RDA couplers, which you may still find in hobby shops or on used equipment. If you do have pull-apart problems, we've had lots of threads on it here.
I have used this tool successfully for a long time. I'm sure one of our advertisers or your LHS can get one for you. I believe it costs less than $15, but I could be wrong.
