RiverSmallieGuy Posted March 28, 2022 Report Share Posted March 28, 2022 (edited) What kinds of woods do you guys typically use for crankbaits, be that wakebaits, super shallow runners, shallow runners, medium runners, or deep divers. I will list my favorite woods for making crankbaits here along with a short reason why and their SG (specific gravity). What other woods are great for crankbaits? #1 Favorite: Cedar. SG=.35 Cedar is very, very buoyant, and holds hardware very well. This wood is great for making very active, hard thumping crankbaits. Although not conducive to lure making, it smells very good. Very grainy wood though, not very fun to carve. This wood, sands super smooth though. I have sanded this wood from 220 clear up to 600, and it is buttery smooth. Avoid smelling the dust, because that can't be good for you... #2 Favorite: Balsa. SG=.17 The most buoyant wood out there for making lures. Very weak though, you need to make balsa baits through wire. Balsa is so buoyant, that it actually gives lures a faster, tighter action. Expensive to purchase a lot of, though. Very finicky to carve as well. Phenomenal wood for cranks and topwaters, though. #3 Favorite: Pine. SG=.4 Fairly buoyant. Little less buoyant than cedar, and considerably less buoyant than balsa, but you can get very wide actions with this wood. This is also an exceptional wood for making oversized crankbaits. (crankbaits over 3.5 ish inches) This is the nicest wood on this list to carve, and is fairly affordable. Edited March 28, 2022 by RiverSmallieGuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wchilton Posted March 29, 2022 Report Share Posted March 29, 2022 A lot of people like Basswood. Similar to pine, maybe a bit softer and nice fine grain for carving. The primo wood that striper fishermen use is Alaskan Yellow Cedar. I have a little bit of this and it is nice. Has very even grain, carves and sands real smooth, not as much scent as regular cedar and somewhat harder/stronger. I've tried the PVC trim board with good results. More wood-like than I expected, carves easily enough and sands smooth and is totally waterproof. Some woods can absorb water and swell and then crack. I'd probably stay away from poplar and fir. Worked with some fir that was very splintery a while back. Mahogany works well but is a bit hard and heavy. Last one I can remember off-hand is paulownia. It's a bit heavier than balsa but lighter than pine and other soft woods. They use paolownia to build some surfboards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravenlures Posted March 29, 2022 Report Share Posted March 29, 2022 Since I do not carve, I use Cedar for cranks, Basswood for making a lure that I plan on molding Maple depends on lure type and size. Wayne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted March 29, 2022 Report Share Posted March 29, 2022 Basswood 99% of the time then balsa and paulowina. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
