Hi Bill
Welcome to the forum. If you use the forum search tool up above and search on the word "chess", you will get quite a few threads already touching on chess sets--particularly on patterns. Here's a link to one of them:
chess sets
As for technique, it's probably more of a case of adopting "carving in the round" techniques to carving chess pieces. So, checking for beginner's carving books at a local library might be very helpful, and of course, available at the right price. You can also purchase one --there are many available. I'm sure others will weigh in on that and more in order to help you out. Don't hesitate to ask more--a lot of helpful people here.
Bob L