I ordered mine from a really fantastic seller on eBay, although I can't remember the name. I bought around 400 quills for $5 or so, and she threw in a bunch extra just for ordering so many. Really awesome.
I prefer using the quills because they're "quick" and all ready to be used without any sort of prep. They may just need a bit of paint once glued in, since they may not be solid black, but that's minimal. The only problem is using tweezers try to glue them in, it gets to be a monumental pain in the ass, and quite frankly I hate doing it, but the results speak for themselves. As far as I know, it's exactly what Joe Dunaway does, and almost whatever Joe does looks great.
Great work on the piece! I love the custom base you did and the shine on the outside edge looks great. Nice work!