A Meter would be kick-ass, BUT it cannot interrupt the operation of the laser in any way. @cottjr has a PM waiting for him.
As for the side reflection, It is a hazard of re-aligning the optics. We can check on the severity of the reflection and then perhaps perform another alignment. Keep in mind though, the alignment could be out on any of the mirrors.
William - As an extension of Lisa’s suggestions about a white board, it would be nice to have an “activity log” of laser maintenance and issues. As of yesterday morning, the laser was engraving deep and clean. Last night it was cutting with a thin kerf and at a higher speed than it had been. There was cleaning stuff out on the table yesterday morning, so I ASSUME that SOMEBODY cleaned the mirrors, but there is no way of knowing if that was done, if anything else was done, or if anything else needs to be done. Haley was waiting around for an opening to clean the mirrors, but had no way of knowing if anybody had done it already. A log would help everybody and cut down on the circular discussion on here.
From a facilities and equipment perspective, I would think that all equipment at the space would have a maintenance log, managed by the individual committees.