Well, a couple of days later, I thought "I'll give it one last shot". I popped out the teardrop and set in at it again. First thing I (finally) figured out was that I was bashing too deep...not leaving the overall crown height high enough. I reworked the front pinch, which brought the height up and started over. Well that helped. After a lot more work with my fingers, I decided I needed something a bit larger than my thumb to push up and out on the "humps", so I went out and made myself a hat pusher out of wood a bit larger than my thumb with a larger radius at the top and rounded the edges. Shazaam, it worked pretty durn good, though I found that holding the hat while mashing up with this little gizmo was tricky...
Anyway, by golly, I was finally making progress. The taper was disappearing (and more important, not reappearing somewhere else!). I FINALLY got something that I am satisfied with. I have very little taper showing when you look at the hat front dead on. When you turn the hat slightly left or right, the side turning toward you actually straightens out a bit more. The visible taper is caused by the front pinches. I think I can maybe work that out later.
I don't have photos right now, but will probably tomorrow. At the moment, the hat is drying and "setting". To bash the hat, I soaked the @#$% out of it. I have also steamed it a bit here and there, and will steam some spots and the brim tomorrow after it dries out to tweak it a bit more.
The felt is soft, which I am not used to, but I can live with it all right. I'll tell ya, it has to be pretty tough, because after several soakings with water, steam, and mashing and pushing the @#$% out of it, it shows no signs whatsoever of shrinking (would that I could have said the same for my Miller hat...). I think it's going to make a great everyday work hat (and yes, I do wear a hat most everyday working outside in a lumberyard...it's a straw hat right now, though!).
So, after initial disappointment, I can finally say I am really happy with the hat! If I had bashed it properly to begin with, that would have avoided a lot of aggravation!
On every hat I've done so far, it's been pretty hard to do a center crease bash and keep the sides from tapering in horribly and looking like a traffic cone. I would say that it is not impossible, but for those not confident in their abilities, I would recommend getting the hatter to shape it for you. You should probably eventually do one yourself, as it is a "useful skill", but it can be a daunting task sometimes. Just prepare yourself, think ahead, and do it logically, and you can do it.
You finally got a great fitting jacket pegged, and now a nice JPD to add to the collection. 
