Ok. Things are going from bad to worse! Check out this next flake...it's even worse than the one before:I'll have to really set up some nice platforms from the other edge and try to clear this face, otherwise I'm going to have a big, ugly step in the middle of this baby.Ok. I set some platforms on the other edge of face #2 and removed a series of flakes. Not too good, but not too bad. I definitely created some problems, but I'm hoping that on my next pass, i'll be able to run those ridges and bust through those problem areas without making them worse. It's only Johnstone after all!So back to face one I go (the numbers are removed now, so you'll have to take my word for it!). Same as before. Move the edge up towards the face I want to take flakes from. Set my platforms, abrade, and take a series of flakes.At this point though, I'll take care to set my platforms so they line up with the ridges left by my first set of flakes. Here's some quick pics of platforms set to go:Nibble down on the edge to move the edge toward the face you want to flake:Here's face #1 after a 2nd set of flakes from one side:Here's face #1 after the 2nd set of flakes from the other side:Face #1 looks pretty darn good, but face #2 doesn't look very promising!The pen marks make it look worse than it actually is, but there are still problems. Worse yet, if I fail to clear that stack (only one step high at this point) in the middle on this next pass, it will get real ugly!So I look at the stone and formulate a plan. The problem is primarily in the center of the piece. I decide to take flakes number 1 and 2 (from either end of the point of the top of the point - the blue pen) first. I do this because the expert knappers told me to thin the base and tip first.Next, I decide to take flakes #3, #4, and #5. The lines that I drew from 3, 4, and 5 are the ridges the flakes will follow. As proposed flake #5 heads into the biggest problem area, I'm hoping that if I take flakes #3 and #4 first, I will chip away at the problem, and isolate the worst part of it. Also, flakes 3 and 4 will each create ridges which will make the ridge from platform #5 even bigger and stronger.First though, I realized that if I were to take a flake from the opposite edge (purple pen #2), it would weaken the problem area further, and increase my chance of success. It also would serve to reduce the mass at that end of the piece (remember what the experts say...reduce thickness at the tip and base end first).So I took purple #2 first:Then I moved to the opposite edge and removed blue #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5 (in that order)Again, not perfect! But it cleared most all of the problem area. The set up and execution of flake #5 didn't work exactly as I'd planned. But it will be a simple matter to clean the rest of face #2 from the opposite edge.And here it is. Face #2, with only one little stack left on it. No problem to get that little booger!Another percussion flake and things are looking better:Coming down the home stretch now, I start to make isolated platforms for taking percussion flakes along ridges into thicker areas. I also take opportunistic pressure flakes to both shape the piece further, and take pressure thinning flakes to furthe reduce mass. When almost finished (I'm bad about knowing when to stop!), the point looks like this:I notice that it's not as thin as I'd like though, so I decide to use pressure flakes to thin it out. The price I'll pay for this is that the point will become more narrow:But that's cool with me, because I'm thinking I like the look of an Agate Basin point more (just like when juggling, when you drop the ball you have to make it look like part of the act) - yea, yea, I was making an Agate Basin point all along!So I swallow my pride (once again) and proceed to take more thinning flakes with my Ishi stick to thin this puppy out. At the same time, I try my best to make it look like an Agate Basin point. In the end, I'm quite happy with the result:So even though this one didn't come out as thin as I would like, and even though I messed up considerably along the way, I was happy because I remembered a time (not too long ago) where I gave up knapping in frustration, because I really, really wasn't getting it!I remembered how a friend helped me to understand some things, and how the passing of that bit of knowledge allowed me to move forward. I remember telling him that I didn't know how to repay him, and how he explained that I certainly could...that I could repay him by passing what I learned on to someone else. So I'm hoping that this helps some of my PaleoPlanet brothers and sisters!Tom