First, I used punches and a hammer to create a pattern, based on the pattern found on brick walls and paved floors. I was careful to make sure the grooves were continuous and all the same depth. I then used a wooden mallet to make sure it was flat without distorting the grooves.
I painted on flux, and then heated it up with a blowtorch and touched solder to the surface. Unfortunately, it didn't spread out, it just stayed as a large blob in the corner, which is not what I wanted.
I then pickled it in the acid before adding more flux (lots and lots of flux) and heating it up again. Thankfully, this time the solder spread out and covered most of the surface. I thought about putting more solder on, to cover all of the pattern, but I decided to leave some of the indents solder-free, because it reminded me of when cement falls out of walls, and I quite liked the look of it.
I pickled it in the acid again before using the linisher to take the solder off the surface of the copper, so that the solder was only left in the grooves and it left a flat surface.
I then used wet and dry paper to remove the tiny scratches the linisher had left, before buffing it and polishing it. I like this outcome, because the pattern is flush to the surface, and at first you only see the grooves in the corner, then you have to look closer to see the rest of the pattern.
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