So, when will you take orders? And do they come in red?
Chess Piece Sizing - Proposing and Testing Some Benchmarks
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I wish I could take orders. I don't have much extra time, with school and whatnot, to carve multiple sets. I will work on an stl version of them once I have them carved so others can 3D print them.
@Kohpablanca @loubalch One thing that I would like to add to the discussion is that smaller well-balanced sets tend to have pieces that fill up more of the square, have shorter proportions, and are more similar to each other. I have two small sets, and I'll get the measurements as soon as I can, but both feel relatively balanced despite how much (I assume) they vary from the dimensions equations. I believe this is because of the square-cube law, as a small piece that fits the dimensions equations could feel too light.
If we have a piece that weighs 3 oz in a set for a 2” square board, and then cut the dimensions of the board and set in half, it now weighs approximately .38 oz, or ⅛ the original weight. This could definitely make the pieces feel too light. Now we could use denser material so it doesn’t get too light, but that can change others things such as the look, and if we stick to similar looking materials, like a different kind of wood, then the density is not changed much. So naturally the bases will be slightly larger than the dimension equations would suggest.
Because the base is larger, you might assume the height would be greater as well. And it may be somewhat taller, but it’s still not as tall as the ratio would suggest. I believe this is done to make the pieces balance better, as the square-cube law pops up once again to mess with the numbers.
Because most pieces bases are larger, the small pieces bases are also closer to the large pieces bases in size and ratio than the equations would recommend. I believe this makes little difference to the playing of the game, and is done because it’s easier to make and/or because they don’t want pieces to take up too much of a square. Similar thing applies to the heights being more similar.
Once again, these are all partly assumptions as I haven't measured any yet. (Oh and if you're wondering what happened to the set I was working on, I gave up a while ago, sorta lost interest.)
The picture of the knight doesn't fully represent the amount of detail there will be in the final piece. I decided to draw it without shadows because I'm not that good at it, but it does make it look smoother than it will be once carved. Then again, I may carve both a smooth and a detailed knight and compare which one I like more. I also changed the king's cross a while back, because I was bothered by how fragile it looked.