I'm the world's worst mechanic, but I just use a 2 by 4 and a hammer for installation, and have never had a problem. Find a flat piece of soft wood, use it to hold the cup / upper bearing race into place, and then bang the board with a hammer. I can't guarantee this method will work for every single headset, but I've done it at least a dozen times without the headset getting bent in any way.

If it's a super tight fit, that could be a problem. Some headsets and crown races can be quite tight. But your can file / sand some metal down to fix that, as long as you don't get too carried away. Proceed at your own risk, but maybe save a few bucks.