A farrier in Cheyenne told me to stop filing my hammer face so flat, and the dents went away
I was at a hammer-in near Cheyenne, Wyoming about 4 months ago and a farrier named Dale watched me draw out a taper for maybe 30 seconds. He picked up my hammer, ran his thumb across the face, and said "you've got it flat as a dinner plate, all you're doing is stamping the steel." He handed me his own hammer, which had a face with a slight crown and the edges eased back, maybe a 5 inch radius if I had to guess. I tried two heats with it and the planishing marks practically disappeared because the crown pushes metal instead of digging in. Since I dressed my own hammer to match his shape, I'm down to about 10 minutes of cleanup on a simple hook instead of 25. Has anyone else changed their hammer face and seen a jump like that, or did I just get lucky with this one steel?