A method of improving the surface finish of a sheared end face of a cylindrical blank in a progressive forming machine comprising deforming the end face out of its original as sheared transverse plane into a first shape concentric with the axis of the blank that slightly departs from the original plane a distance that increases with proximity to the axis of the blank, thereafter deforming the end face from the first shape into a second shape in a direction opposite a direction the first shape was displaced from the original shear plane, the second shape slightly departing from a transverse plane a distance that increases with proximity to the axis of the blank.