Having failed at making flexible plant tags, I figured using laser test paper to make laser test targets might work:
They descend from my original dot-mode laser beam targets:
The dots just barely punch through the back side (open in a new tab & zoom for more dots):
The plastic coating chars and buckles with each pulse, but remains in place:
Wiping the surface removes the loose coating / ash / debris to expose the underlying charred paper core:
Those are two pulses marking the ends of each axis, so the machine remains well aligned after the fourth-quarter tweak.
A single pulse shows the beam has a nice round shape with well-defined edges:
In principle, the beam should be more intense toward the middle, but I suspect that’s beyond the paper’s ability to resolve the energy; the beam either burns through the coating or it doesn’t. In all those targets, the back surface of the paper remains undamaged.
Manila paper targets seem to have better energy resolution and take much less time to produce:
The black test paper will certainly come in handy for something, though.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 