Jason,
I was wondering how the tree is doing now?
Unfortunately the past year has brought some setbacks for this tree. The first branch that never leafed out last year stayed that way and I cut it off. Everything seemed to going well with the second branch and by midsummer I felt I could sever it from the attachment point low on the trunk. By this time a full year had passed from the grafting work and the branch seemed secure but after I made the cut it only took a few days to realize that I had made a blunder. The branch soon turned brown, shrunk and became loose in the hole, it had never fused at all.
Now I am left with the leader and what was to be the back/third branch. The tree is healthy enough despite its annual bout of black spot fungus and I am hopeful that in the future I can still make a decent bonsai from this. I expect to get some buds from the scarred area of the two failed grafts. Chinese Elms back bud easily and are it is common to see new buds at old scar sites, so it is possible that I will still get branches at the location I wish.
This was my first attempt at thread grafting and although I am disappointed I think I learned a few things. They were obvious but sometimes it takes hands on experience to reinforce what, in hindsight, seems obvious later.
Norm