A whole bunch of people mailed me about making your own crankbaits, so here is how I do it:
Materials: I first get a selection of different types of wood and some lead, you will need the lead to weight down some baits if they rise too quickly when tested. Also you need a black permanent pen. Wood types: balsa rises quickly and is easy to work with but is very fragile. Cedar is heavy and durable and it won't rise too quickly, but harder to work with and inflexible, so you may split the wood when screwing in the hardware. Cherry will work and is more flexible than cedar, but it is materially heavy and will rise fairly quickly, forcing you to add lead to an already heavy bait. Poplar is similar to cherry so I stay away from it unless I want a real quick rising bait. Oak is the most durable, but as a result it is very tough to carve. Most oak baits will rise a little faster than cedar.
I have used all but for most of my lures I prefer cedar wood so I will discuss cedar wood techniques unless someone wants to know otherwise. For ease you will want to obtain planks or sheets that are of similar thickness to the lures you will later make; if you want your lures to be 3/8" wide looking down from the top you would buy planks that are a little over 3/8" wide.
You will also need lots of sandpaper in course, medium, fine and extra fine and extra blades if you are using saws. Next you will also need paint; brush-on will work, spray cans are better, and an airbrush with different tips is the ultimate. I use Testors model paint in spray cans and in the airbrush for many applications as it is durable and inexpensive. In addition to that I also use special lure paint, but not the bake-on types for obvious reasons. I use brush on paint for the eyes, but you can buy decals if you like.
Next you need hook hanger screws, these are special lure making screws that have a loop on one end to which you attach a hook. Also you will need treble hooks of proper size, lots of properly matched split rings, and pre made lips or if you want to make your own lips, Lexan sheets and thin yet super strong wire (about one 2" strip for each lip) in addition to some super strong, flexible clear epoxy. Also you need a good quality clear lacquer, I prefer thick brush on lacquer as it can cover up little imperfections and it leaves a glossy finish. On spinnerbait blades I use a real thin spray on lacquer. You will need some cheap, thin, easily formed wire for drying the paint on the lures.
Tools and related: For tools you will need a good quality pocketknife or other blade tool with a small, 1" or similar size blade and a larger 2 1/2" or so blade honed sharp enough to literally shave hair with. DO NOT skimp here. Next you need to get a hand drill manual or electric, drill press or something else you can cut precision holes with (A Dremel tool works good for this). You will also need a saw of adequate thickness and size, I use a selection of small, manual hobby/model saws and some electric saws to cut out the general design and do some general shaping of the baits which saves a lot of time. I use an electric belt sander to do the general sanding and preliminary shaping too.
In addition, I have the venerable and indispensable Dremel tool, a handheld wonder that can cut, polish, sand, carve, deburr, and do all kinds of neat stuff. These tools are not necessary but save so much time that I will not start a project without them. If you have other projects or are doing large scale lure making where you can use these tools, buy them, but beware that your wife may suddenly find a multitude of handyman things for you to do around the house.
As for basics you can get away with manual sandpaper sheets, a small hand saw, and the pocketknife and get away with dodging home repair work. Lastly before you start cutting, you need a side view paper template of the lure design you want to cut. You can trace from a favorite or design your own. Keep in mind that the basic design of the body will not affect the behavior of the lure in the water, it is mainly the lip or significant body changes, like from a real thin to a real rounded body, that makes a bait behave one way or the next.
Assembly and fabrication: Assuming that you will be making flat sided cranks, the easiest for starters and veterans alike, you will want to sand down both sides of the plank(s) of wood extremely smooth. Now you have two sides finished. Then, place the premade template on one of the sides of the wood and trace around it with the pen. Try to get as many lures out of the wood as you can, quality grades of wood aren't cheap!! When they are cut out, now you have a general lure body. Now look at the lure from the top down. Do you want to point the head and tail? If so, use the pen to color in what you want to cut off on the top (back) of the lure. Take the saw or electric sander, and pointing the blade vertically assuming the bait is positioned horizontally, slice off the little bits of wood you want to. The cut should then be uniform from belly to back. Now use your knife to round off the sharp edges left. Round off the edges until you are satisfied with your workmanship. Cutting with the razor-sharp knife is easier than sanding so cut what you can.
Then sand down the rough edges first with medium and progressively work down to extra fine. When you are done with the extra fine it should be very smooth and almost polished. Any imperfections will show through the paint so do a good job and take your time. Now for the last step, you must cut a notch in the nose of the lure for the lip. You can do this by either holding the body and pressing it into a running electric saw blade but exercise a LOT of caution, or clamp the body in a vise (that has softer jaws than the wood you are using to make lures from, otherwise you will mar the body you just spent hours on) and sawing the groove in with any sawing tool. The groove should be a hairs breath smaller than the lip you plan on installing in it. There, now you have a beautiful body.
I would recommend drilling a very small hole in the belly and in the tail where you will screw in the hook holding screws to lessen the possibility of splitting the wood. Now, get yourself some wire, (it needs to be very malleable) and take a 4" strip, bend it into a "J" form. Stick the long straight end into the tail hole. This is so you can hold and then hang the bait during and after painting. Now, using whatever method you like, paint the bait. You can do so many more things with an airbrush or spray can, like fading paints, pinstriping, etc. so use them if you can. Brushed on paints don't look too realistic but it will get you started. Hang the bait on the nearest object provided that it will not be disturbed until the paint is dry to the touch.
Now you can go watch The Bassmasters or NASCAR for a while waiting for the paint to dry. But if you want to make the lips, you still got a bit of work ahead of you. Here is where the Dremel tool really comes in handy if it hasn't already. Trace a template of the lip style you want to use, put the template on the Lexan sheet and trace it out. Now, Lexan you must cut with a fine toothed saw, like a metal saw, or a file or better, the cut off wheels with a Dremel tool. So use whatever method you prefer to get that lip out. I use the Dremel tool and a sander to cut out and deburr the lip. Now that you have the lip out, you must determine where to place the line tie. The closer to the body, the tighter the wiggle and deeper the dive. The farther away from the body, the shallower the dive and wider the wobble.
Take those 2" strips of wire and bend a "U" shape into the middle of them. It should be about 3/16" high and 1/8" wide. If you did it right the wire should look as it did before you messed with it, except for the little 3/16" x 1/8" hump in the middle of it. See the importance of thin yet super strong wire? This will be your line tie. Take the Dremel tool (or your knife but be real careful), and cut a groove 1/2 way deep into the lip from the front of the lip towards the back of it as long as the wire shaft. Depending on lip length, you may need to shorten the wire. Then using the drill or Dremel tool, cut an oblong hole in the groove where the hump in the wire shaft will protrude. Lay the wire shaft into the groove, with the hump sticking out of the hole. Epoxy it in place making sure the hump is straight up. Now you should have a lip that looks like those found on all Poe's cranks. Now you ambitious people can go watch The Bassmasters or NASCAR for a while too.
When the paint is dry add no less than 3 coats of lacquer. Make sure beforehand that the lacquer will not dissolve the paint by testing the process on a bum piece of finished wood. Let the lacquer really harden usually overnight. When all the stuff is dry, here's the easy part. Screw the hook retainer screws in place. Put a split ring on each one, to which you also attach a treble hook. Stuff the lip into the groove it is supposed to go into, but make sure that it is not too tight. If it is, you risk splitting the wood. It is supposed to hold just tight enough so that you can test the lure in a swimming pool or other secure place before cementing the lip in place. In case you don't like the action you can always change the lip rather than make a whole new bait. Making fat bodied cranks are similar. I have just outlined the basic procedure of making wooden cranks so if anyone wants any more info they should email me at pr43697p@stmail.pace.edu