Abstract: A wire straightening device (62) is disclosed for use on a wire processing machine (60). The device includes two wire deflection units (72, 74) arranged to deflect the wire in two perpendicular planes to remove stresses in the wire. Each wire deflection unit includes a first member (90) having a set of upper rollers (92, 94, 96) arranged thereon and a second member (110) having a set of lower rollers (112, 114, 116, 118) journaled thereon. The two sets of rollers are adjustable toward and away from each other for deflecting engagement with a wire (78) to be straightened. The wire traverses through the wire deflection unit along a wire path (80) from an inlet side (132) to an outlet side (134), The spacing of the rollers (92,94 and 112,114) adjacent the inlet side (132) is greater than the spacing of the rollers (94,96 and 116,118) adjacent the outlet side (134) so that the spacing is progressively less from the inlet side toward the outlet side.