How to hand carve clothespins?

[~gd]

I believe elm has odd interlocking grain that makes it good for shapes that experience a forces from all directions.

A back saw is a specialized saw that has a particularly thin cut width (kerf). It's normally used for cutting dovetails and other fancy stuff. If the 1-piece clothespins I've seen are any guide, you need a respectable width---enough to accommodate the line and 4-ish layers of cloth.

Right on both counts! I carve and Iwould use a tool I found in a thrift store, it is a small rasp with one safe edge[safe neans no teeth] one side and edge has agressive teeth, the other side has smaller teeth. horse men tell me that it is a trail horse tooth rasp made to 'float' horse's teeth. Larger versions were available in tack stores but not the pocket version. They were the ones that told me it must be for trail use and was rare and old/ I love old tools in decent shape because I use them.~gd