1.   ...a length of bent wire.

2.   Apply the oil in minute quantities with a piece of bent wire.

3.   But technicians later traced the problem to a bent wire whose insulation had been torn away, which shorted when it touched a metal screw head.

4.   This morning a little boy played with a hoop made from some rusting car part, guiding it with a bent wire hanger down the filthy street.