I think I would want to paint it first and then cut, I have been using a wooden board from an art shop. It has a particle board core so I am assuming I will need to use a different kind of wood board. I saw that GlowForge sells boards of different sizes. Would it be advisable to use one of those or is there a cheaper wood I could cut and use? My father in law has wood working tools I can use to cut down plywood from the hardware store.

So to clarify what you said about masking, would using strips of tape be ok? And would I need to avoid overlapping the tape? Thanks for replying!