Yep, it just prevents residue from getting on the wood. Feel free to check out my other videos on YouTube for tips and tricks if you’re new.
I’m new to glowforge. Day 2 to be exact. Do you need to put tape on wood before cutting? The wood I’m using is Birch.
You don’t have to - what the masking does it make is so you don’t get smoke stains on the surface of the wood. Personally about 80% of the time I love the smoke stains, but without them things do look cleaner/newer, so it’s a style question. That being said, if what you’re engraving has lots of subtle details (any photograph) you definitely want to remove the masking or the details will be wiped off when you pull off the masking.
If you get PG wood it comes pre-masked. Otherwise you can buy paper masking all over the web, including Amazon.
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No it just prevents residue when engraving for a cleaner look.
The masking on the back also will cut down on flashback too. These are the burnt looking spots along places that are cut through. 
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Where do you buy this masking?
There are links to three sources in this thread.
Amazon or signs wearhouse I think I have links in the video description.
Can you use just plain painters masking tape?
Absolutely.
You’ll find pretty fast that getting the larger sheets of it is more economical (and less crazy making when you’re pulling it off) but in the meantime regular masking tape does work. It’s often a big thicker than the paper tape so you may need to bump up your power a bit, but you’ll figure that out in testing.
Thank you so much. I’m only a week owner. How do I change the power if I need to?
That gets into using the manual settings. Have you done the first three prints? It’ll teach you so much about this machine, including how to use the manual mode 
I’ve made a dozen or so of wood earrings, but haven’t made the first 3 cuts yet.
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Very helpful
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Thankyou for that link! I have to take note!
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Thanks for the video
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Would you share the plans? Or are they already posted somewhere and I’m merely blind?
It was linked about 5 posts from the top 
Thank you so much for this video. I’m a newbie and wasn’t sure how to mask wood, I really appreciate the help.
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No problem anytime.