Or buy multiple sets from the same manufacturer while keeping the plastics, materials, wood grains and staining the same. You’ll be able to mix and match the pieces to your heart’s content!
But if you're using a cheap plastic set with teeny-tiny pawns, it doesn't matter what size board you choose, you're poop out of luck!
At least you’re thinking pragmatically. There are over two dozen lifer members here who have stacks of Plano boxes with top shelf premium chess pieces that are worth upwards of $600 per set.
So, FWIW, I’ve more or less finalised my design for a chess set, which took me much longer than I expected (with many, many more test prints). While the chess piece heights declined linearly from the King to the Queen, Bishop and Knight (95-85-75-65mm), the differences were slightly attenuated for the Rook and Pawn (57 & 50mm), something commonly seen in many chess sets (and also in Fide’s recommended dimensions).
I also followed my own, empirically discovered sizing rules for the Rook, Knight, Bishop and Pawn (with help from @Loubalch seen in earlier posts in this thread). That is, the Rook, Knight and Bishop lined up orthogonally are 2 squares long, while the Rook, Knight, Bishop and Pawn lined up diagonally fit in a 2x2 square diagonal on the board. This results in a Pawn size of 31mm for a 55mm board, which is a smidgen smaller than the 32mm recommended under a 2-pawns-to-a-square rule. The King is 42mm in diameter for a 55mm square board, giving a 76.4% ratio. And the Queen diameter is just in between the King’s and the Rook’s.
Designing the pieces to specific volumes is much harder, obviously. Here, I contented myself with making sure the volume (ie size) of each piece followed its respective value in chess — so that in terms of size, King > Queen > Rook > Knight/Bishop > Pawn. It was actually quite hard to make the Rook bigger than the Knight, given that the Knight is taller and doesn’t taper off towards the top like other pieces. Technically, my Knight is bigger than my Bishop, but it was far too hard to make the two more equal. I figure that while the bishop is smaller, it compensates with its stature, being taller).
Of all the pieces, I think I’m proudest of the Bishop, which has a mitre cut without actually having a mitre cut.
The Knight was definitely the trickiest piece. A couple close ups of it:
@Kohpablanca Wow. Your attention to detail really shines through.
Knight: I love how the mane tapers off down the neck. The subtle curve of the jaw. The angle of the ears and placement of the eyes are perfect.
Bishop: Brilliant "no cut" mitre cut. Letting the shadows do the work.
Queen: The deep tapering grooves of the crown gives the Queen a very dramatic and strong presence.
King: Although the King is a simpler form compared to the Queen, the height of the King shows unmistakable importance. But the details of the Queen show its power.
Rook: It's interesting to read your difficulties with the volume of the Rook. I would've thought that to increase Rook volume you could've simply made the "neck" thicker/wider like a Minceta Rook for volume. Seeing as the Rook is a massive stone inanimate structure, it would've been ok to deviate from the elegant tapering of the other pieces. No?
Do you plan on adding weights? Do you have any plans to sell a few sets? Amazing work. It really is beautiful.
The set looks GREAT! An award-winning design (or should be). Congratulations on taking an abstract theoretical concept and turning it into an actual work of art! It was worth the wait to see the outcome.
Kudos.
Wow, thanks for the kind comments everyone! And again for your help, @Loubalch
@Pawnerai: Thanks for your detailed feedback — much appreciated. The Rook would have been easy to make larger in a previous design, but a friend who was critiquing my design said I needed to give the Rook the same slightly elevated base at the bottom that all the other pieces had, for consistency. So I had to angle the Rook’s bottom (and top), like so:
I needed to make the angle sharp enough to separate it from the elevated base, but that in turn made the central shaft (‘neck’) smaller. The Rook’s base size was already fixed by my self-imposed rules / formulas, and I wanted the top section to be smaller than the bottom, which I think is quite characteristic of (Staunton) Rooks. Also, I really wanted the neck to be curved, as all my other pieces have a combination of straight lines and curves, and so the fatter the neck, the less curved it became. Anyway, that’s the backstory for the Rook...!
FYI, my idea for the Queen was based on the crown/coronet that’s typically used to represent her in 2D chess sets: ♕
And yes, if I can figure out a way to make these pieces economically, I’d love to be able to sell a few sets.
@CringeBlunderman : No, I haven’t printed a black set yet; the place where I printed the white pieces doesn’t have black filament for some reason(!) Ceramic (especially stoneware) is an interesting idea. I’m investigating the best way to make this set a reality, and possibly even for mass production / a Kickstarter project. Would love to make a weighted, wood set, but that’s probably too hard for now given the Queen’s Gambit craze and all. Unless @ShelbyLohrman saves the day! I’ve inquired about getting a metal set made (scaled down for a 1.5” board) with a matt antique patina finish, like I’ve seen on drawer handles and knobs. I need the set to be completely playable, and shiny pieces just don’t work for me. Surely this can’t be that hard to do...? Thinking something like this (from an actual website selling handles, knobs and other fixtures):
The search function here is absolutely horrid. I had a heck of a time finding this post!
@Kohpablanca Any progress in your quest to get your set manufactured? I'm still up for purchasing a set if it helps in your initial pricing. Just let me know.
The search function here is absolutely horrid. I had a heck of a time finding this post!
@Kohpablanca Any progress in your quest to get your set manufactured? I'm still up for purchasing a set if it helps in your initial pricing. Just let me know.
@Pawnerai — I’ve just started looking at companies that help turn designs into an actual, manufactured product. Not sure how long the process is, but I imagine it might take a while. I’m keen to see if there is any (economic) way to make them in Australia rather than overseas. I’ll be sure to add you to the priority customer list when the product’s ready! Maybe I should start a separate thread.
FYI, I’ve adjusted the King’s finial:
Ideally, I’d love to make a few different finials that can be interchanged. Not sure how much that will add to cost, though.
But thanks heaps for your interest and support!
gorgeous
gorgeous
Thanks, @jhass1 ! Too kind
I can do a 3d model on solid works if anyone wants the files. I just am struggling to make the knight look natural.
@loubalch Do you (or anyone else) have any thoughts on the Piatigorsky reproduction with 4.5" King on the 2.25" squares? Do you think this set would look... oversized or silly in a club environment? I'm considering purchasing, but the taller size of the pieces makes me worry noone would want to play with it.
@Kohpablanca and @loublach I can't thank you enough. I've used the information in this thread so much for so long and it's perfect! I know this this an old thread, but I feel the need to give all of you some appreciation. I've done so much geometry on this and made so many amazing set designs with the help of this thread. And thanks to everyone else on this thread too!
Here's a set I designed with the help of this forum. It doesn't fit most of the benchmarks perfectly, because of my personal preference, but it's still mostly accurate to them. 
The pieces are on a board with 1.5" squares. In the image with the labels, each square is 1/4", and in the other image each square represents 1/8". I'm currently working on making these out of wood. Expect the physical set soon. [Edit: I've mostly given up on this so don't expect it ever]
Or buy multiple sets from the same manufacturer while keeping the plastics, materials, wood grains and staining the same. You’ll be able to mix and match the pieces to your heart’s content!