Try this trick to remove dents in unfinished wood.

On a commercial jobsite, new woodwork can suffer interim damage before the painter can get to it. A few dents and the odd scratch here and there are bound to occur.

Here are a couple of dents caused by a carpenter's clamp. If the wood fibers have not been fractured, minor dents can usually be relieved by dampening with water.

So... dampen the unfinished wood with water. A spritzer is a convenient way to apply a light mist without soaking. Repeat as necessary until dents have swelled and levelled out as much as they are going to -- a half-hour should do it....

Best to use distilled water.

I used methyl alcohol in this spritzer for dampening. It dries faster than water, and can be more effective. TOXIC though!

Not sure what you might have in that spritzer? Spray it on your hand -- water just sits there -- alcohol will feel cold.

Methanol dissolves acrylics and latex.