There is some misunderstanding going on.....
You can use strips of foundation for a starter, or you can just give them a guide so that they start out straight.
If you are using foundation of any kind(wax or plastic foundation), a larger strip is just fine....1 inch, 2 inch, 4 inch... The bees will draw that out. It is embossed with the cell structure and that will help the bees.
However, you can use a small guide of some other material, so if you are using a thin wood strip like the original poster or things like JP uses, it isn't embossed with the cell size so the bees will have trouble drawing it out if you make it too big. Then it is just a guide and you want to keep it to a minimum as Michael posted.
Rick