Hi Lisa, I'm just perusing this forum and I'll jump in with what I do...I have plywood "workboards" and some have polyurethane, other's don't (because I'm lazy when it comes to stuff like that!) the polyurethane will help keep your boards from warping over time, so the ones coated with it will last longer. You can use the boards for whatever process in your work you want! Rolling, cutting, moving pieces. For instance if you are working on a pot on a table, adding elements to it or whatever, say feet, or something where you don't want to disturb the clay when you move it, if you put it on a smaller work board then you just move your board when you are done rather than your piece. If you've seen those bakers racks Jessica has in some of her videos, the boards fit right in the tray slots, so you would want to get them cut to whatever size. Home depot is good about cutting things for you :). Hope this helps, Star