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What can you do to take a sharp dent out of wood, steam?

what kind of wood?

Bruce,

Depending on the depth of the dent & hardness of the wood, you can sometimes steam out a dent. Depending, also, on the finish, (varnished, shellacked, painted), you may have more problem refinishing the spot than just leaving the dent. For unfinished wood it's pretty simple.

Use a wet wash cloth and an iron set on the highest setting. Place the cloth over the dent and apply the iron, being careful not to dry out the cloth.

This will allow the wood fibers to soften and expand to their original structure, or at least nearly so...

If whatever made the dent actually cut into the fibers, this won't be quite as successful.

This will also raise the grain in the surrounding area and will require some sanding and finishing.

Br,

Patrick

Bruce...

To add to what Capt. Pat said above.. I have had good luck by filling the dent with a few drops of water several times so it soaks into the damaged wood fibers.. then steaming. The process depends on the water soaking into the squashed cellulose fibers, and then forcing the fibers to re-expand by heating the water to steam with the iron. On a few occasions I have had to do this more then once, but each succeeding time the expansion is less. Also.. the finish on the surrounding wood may suffer some heat damage, so you need to be careful if the wood has a film coating, as opposed to perhaps oiled teak.

Bruce,
On top of all the good info you got previously, If all else fails, call a local furniture store. Ask them if they will give you the number of a good furniture touch up guy. We receive damaged stuff all the time and some of these guys are really good at your exact problem. It would help if you called the place that sells the most expensive furniture you can find as they generally have access to the best touch up people.

Capt, Patricks wet cloth with hot steam Iron works, I have done it many times, however it won't get deep dents out. Try to keep the heat just over the dent, so you dont inject all that moisture into areas that don't need it.
Much luck,
Mark