thanx fellows! the feathers are wrapped with silk. i'll be sealing the wraps up with an epoxy finish in the next few days to help protect it from wear. for selfnocks, i just flatten both side, drill a 1/8" hole, and widen the groove until the string fits with sand paper. i sometimes cheat and use my 1" belt sander to work the grooves. hopefully i will have an article coming out this fall on how i make my cane arrows and nocks. i forgot to add that i bought these shafts off tradgang a couple mouths ago. can't remember who i got these from.