Experimental aspects of laser cleaning and annealing of a Ni(1) surface with a pulsed ruby laser are reported. Effects of applying laser energy densities of .4 J/cm to 1.1 J/cm to an Ar-ion sputter-cleaned surface are determined using Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES), Low Energy Electron Diffraction (LEED), and Polarized LEED (PLEED) as surface diagnostics. AES profiles, LEED Intensity v. Voltage (I-V) curves, and PLEED Polarization v. Voltage (P-V) curves taken on the laser annealed surface are compared to identical information for the thermally annealed surface. Effects of substrate temperature on laser annealing results are investigated. It is concluded that laser-annealing yields clean, well ordered surfaces for elevated substrate temperature, but not at room temperature.