I had a few uncertainties about the flashing process that I felt were a bit long winded and vague for the forum so I PMed Casey. He tidied up my questions and supplied clear and comprehensive answers to all points, so I'm posting here so that others may possibly benefit.
My questions neatly summarised by Casey in bold, my additions to Casey comments for context outside the PM in italic.
Thanks for the speedy and comprehensive response @Casey, I don't remember Steve Jobs being so forthcoming that time I asked him for some crapple information, maybe that's why his iphones are such