Scroll saw, drill press, carving knife, sand paper (100,150,320) That will get the baits to the point of sealing.
I learned most everything by reading the net and trial/error with a lot of the error part. I been building cranks for 5yrs and the first 2yrs were spent learning. Now I did make bait that ran well and caught fish but those did not look like the baits I'm making now.
My first suggestion is pic a couple of your fav. cranks and go to a copy machine. Make some profile copies of the baits and start trying to reproduce them exactly. That way you have the master in hand while working on your version. Balsa wood is by far the easiest to use for carving and weighting.
Make sure to cut the lip slot first while the wood is still square and then cut the bait out. Measure and make the center line around the entire bait (wheeled marking gauge) works great for this. Now drill out the hole for balast, line tie, and hook hangers. Mark how wide you want the bait on top and bottom and then start carving (exacto wood carving knife and some extra blades).
I would start with some flatsided baits made from 1/2 stock. Those are the easiest to carve and finish.
20gauge stainless steel wire, lip material (garolite/polycarbonate), balast weight (worm sinkers/egg sinkers, finess weights).