In Eugene Killion's HONEY IN THE COMB he gives plans for making solid
durable follower boards.   The major difficulty would be in finding 3/8"
stock to make them from.
 
Another description I once saw used 3/8" masonite, the size of a frame,
with a strip of sheet metal bent over the top (the metal was the length of
a top bar).  There were 4 rivets popped thru the metal holding it securely
to the board.
 
The "ears" of the follower board were formed by bending under the sheet
metal on each end (where it juts past the edge of the board).  I've not
made any like this but it seems straightforward.
 
An old-timer once suggested to me the idea of manufacturing quality
follower boards.  They are never offered by suppliers or in the journals.
Someone could no doubt make a nice little business of it, it they could
make them in large quanitities and offer to ship them. I think they'd be
popular.