There will always be arguments on either side of this issue - once I've made my rune set (or made it my own), should anyone else ever touch them? This question exists over the subject of tarot as well. Some people believe that having someone else touch their tarot deck or runes will hinder the connection you've made with these divination tools. Others believe that if you are doing a reading for someone else, that person should touch the deck or set, so that the tools themselves hear the quandry and answer the question.
The answer is simple. Just like everything else on this site, runes are no exception. The best majick is personal majick.. so it is, personally, your own choice. If you personally feel that having someone touch your runes will 'taint' the bond you've forged with them, then don't let anyone else touch your runes. If you feel that it wouldn't cause any discord between you and your deck or set, then feel free. It's up to you.
As far as 'how to make runes', we're talking about putting symbols on either stones, clay, or wood here.. Use a Dremel, or an Exacto knife, or a carving knife, or any rock-carving kits. Draw them on with a Sharpie, whatever. I would recommend that you take your time, and put in the effort, so those runes will always be your babies.
If you truly want the best results, I would encourage your runes be as nature-based as possible. Sure, they'd look very pretty with a nice stain, the symbol painted with delicate grace and a beautiful finish, polished until they shine. But you can't feel the wood anymore, can you? Might as well make them out of plastic, or just buy some on eBay. They won't really be very personal, unless you spend a lot of time touching them, charging them, filling them with your energy before you try a runecasting. If you've never done woodworking before, or your not a stonemason or sculptor and are therefore hesistant to try, that's okai. Perhaps you feel that your frustration at your lack of practice will taint the runes, and that's fair. You definitely don't want to taint them with negative energy. But try before you decide.
If you try, and feel like your mother will never even put this on the fridge, try stones, or clay, perhaps it would be wiser to purchase a set. Spare yourself the frustration and buy some. There are plenty on the net. I would simply encourage you to only purchase a rune set out of necessity, rather than convenience.
Your runes should all be uniform in size and shape, and avoid any markings that may distinguish one rune from the others, say on the reverse, or 'face-down' side. It's widely suggested that all your runes should be fairly small, so that all 25 can fit in your hands if your palms were cupping them - like you would trap a fly that accidentally wandered into your home, and keeps banging it's head against the windows. You don't want to hurt the little thing, you just want to grab it, while still giving it enough space to move around a bit, so you can set it free outside.
You can use circles, rectangles, squares, ovals or flat cylinder shapes for your runes, so long as they're all the same shape. It would be unwise to create bias towards certain runes by using separate shapes, as you will not have any divinatory results, you will only have your own personal choice of shapes. You may be 'stacking the deck' if you don't keep all the runes consistent.
Decide how you want to proceed, gather your tools and materials, and take a moment to meditate on what you're about to do. Keep things simple, so you can focus on nurturing each rune as you fashion it, rather than any elaborate artistry - unless you feel you can do both at the same time. Now you can move on to the next step - putting the symbols on your runes. You can carve the symbols, draw them or paint them. Some swear that red is the best rune-oriented majickal color to use, but you're going to make this personal. If you want to use different colors to represent the basic ideal of each rune (green for healing, red for love, etc..), then do that. If you feel more adept with drawing, perhaps you'll want to create your own 'rune font' and really put in the time to make every rune your 'perfect' drawing of each of the symbols. However you get those symbols on those runes, is up to you. I wouldn't go for woodburning, nail polish or anything like that.. I personally feel those things are too unnatural. To some people, using paint is pushing it. I think some naturally blended ink carefully applied to a groove carved in the wood or stone would work if you prefer an 'absolutely natural' set. But to each their own.
When selecting your materials, consider carefully. If you don't ask the tree for permission to take a length of a branch, your set could end up affected with that negative vibe. If you choose to use bone or ivory as your rune tablets, you may be imbuing your set with the essence of an animal that died - or worse, one that was hunted for sport.
There are two other things that you may find are essential in your rune set. A pouch (leather, cloth, hand or machine sewn, simple or elegant), and a cloth. The cloth is basically the tablecloth to lay down to organize your reading on top to keep them clean. Again, I recommend all natural substances where possible - using cotton, raw silk, linen.. Lisa Peschel's book suggests a white cloth, devoid of any prints or embellishments, so that it may serve as it is meant to - a backdrop for the runecasting. And I tend to agree with her. Especially about her suggestion that when you are getting started, that you use a notebook to jot down any insights into a rune's meaning, as well as the overall reading itself. This will help you identify how well your runes (and your interpretations of the runes) perform in a runecasting.
Another very important point that Lisa and I agree on (though she's never met or talked to me) is that a novice doing a reading for someone else, potentially just telling a friend what they want to hear instead of a true divination, is karmically dangerous. Regardless of your good intentions. There are so many ways to translate runes into meanings, and so many ways to read into the correlations in the runes position in a runecasting. It would be a safer idea for you to really get acquainted with your set, the runes, the meanings and the layouts. Perhaps at the time when you put away the notebook, that's when you could start doing readings for others. Or, we could always use that 'Only I touch them, and I only read for myself' argument to prevent our spiritual divinations from being pimped like a party trick. Just think of the potential consequences before acting. Or better yet. If someone asks you to do a runecasting for you? Do a runecasting to see if you should.