So for those of us who can't afford the lenses used for follow focus, I've been doing some thinking... what would be the easiest way to simplifying the focusing system.

I've been thinking of building some kind of wheel or stick that could fit on my lens that I could use to turn the lens, instead of grabing it with my hand. Grabbing the lens introduces the possibility of accidently moving one of my fingers into the shot.

Any ideas/advice on this? I'm also trying to figure out a way to make this easier to do on my steadistick setup.

There was a thread on a DIY follow focus, but that didn't really end up in a simple plan. I suggested to use the mechanism of a 90 deg. screwdriver accessory. I'm also thinking about a small flexible axes with a grip on the lens ring on one side. On the other side (after a 90 deg. bent of the axes) you need a simple weel to rotate the lens.
On the other hand, with a longer flexible axes, you can put the wheel wherever you want it, like on the camcorders mic mount or on the tripod (or in a focus pullers hand).
Dan suggested to re-grease the lens to make it 'smoother'.

We have very similar thing on our TODO list. Two rubber wheels, one for focus, second for zoom. Using the stepper motors and digital counter counting steps, so you can focus by counter, if you prepare the scene ahead. At this moment, we are focusing by moving lens closer and farther from GG.
Doing this for same reason. Once you touch the lens, you bring 90% possibility to ruin stability.