DIY Paper Bahtinov Focusing Mask

Since my camera doesn't have live view, I have to focus through the little viewfinder. I figured a focusing aid might help me out. I read that a Bahtinov mask could help take some of the guessing out of trying to focus. I found a helpful post about making one yourself, and even a Bahtinov Focusing Mask Generator. I didn't have any black plastic, but I tried my best making one out of paper and it actually wasn't too bad.

I printed the image from the Bahtinov Focusing Mask Generator on cardstock

...and cut out the white spaces...

...which took me about 20 minutes.

Then I cut out the disk itself.

I wrapped paper around the end of my telescope and taped it for size, then attached the focusing mask with tape.

I figured it doesn't really matter if the white or black side faces out. Looks kinda badass.

Even this paper one works in principle - it "produces three angled diffraction spikes at the focal plane of the instrument" (Wikipedia). The problem is that my focuser sticks and jumps, and I only have a course focus. Knowing where focus is doesn't help if you can't accurately make adjustments - I just shoot past it in both directions but can't fine tune it. Oh well, not a bad little project!