Trident information:
I shall add here info that I find good and helpful on developing trident maples. Some of mine and some from other blogs. The idea is to point people in the right direction, with less effort.
This blog contains very well documented info on growing trunks on trident maples , and some on branch development. Also on grafting, fusing, air and ground layering, root and nebari development. I found it to be a valuable resource.
http://bonsaial.wordpress.com/trident-maples/#comment-724
This photograph is from the same link and belongs to Al Keppler: Just to show you what to expect from this link. This trident trunk was developed from scratch by Al.
Evergreen Garden works
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Invasive species SA
Bonsai advice 
Thank you Neli for showing this process to a wider audience. I find trident maples especially rewarding and feel that they are very fast from stick to appreciable bonsai.
Al, Thank You for taking the time to document this. I know you are doing it to help people. I want to help too, even in a small way by sharing your link.