Medbaits

Hey all, I've been reading a ton on this site for the past few weeks and researching, or rather, admiring people work for a little longer. I do basic wood working as a hobby and since I have been fishing a lot lately I wanted to try my luck at a few baits. There's just some information I can't quite figure out and as a perfectionist (at least my brain thinks I am) I can't get started until I have a few answers, so here are a couple questions I have: 1. What's the deal with lure shapes? Is everyone just doing a generic shape? I see them a lot and they are usually the same shad or minnow shape. Is there any way to make it any different or are there reasons for these shapes? I know they mimick the fish, but I mean where bends and curves are on the shape . 2. How thick are these baits? I have 1 inch balsa, 1/4 Inch balsa and a ton of 3/4 Inch other woods and I can't quite figure out how thick a bait should be. I feel like I want to make something in the 3 inch size, maybe shads because I like how cool crank baits are, but how thick do I make them? 3. Why does everyone make lures out of single blocks of wood? I was going to make 2 pieces and just wood glue them together so I could insert my guys easier. Is there a flaw I'm overlooking here? 4. Through wires. Is there a stronger way to do this other than the single bends? Alive seen a single straight wire through the lure and then a separate wire that goes around it for the belly hook eye and I wondered if there was research on which was stronger or better. I also can't seem to find a consensus on the steel wire needed for these things. I currently bought 19g ss wire. I'm hoping it works. 5. How much should a lure weigh? I figure weighting it would be trial and error, but is there a general weight for lures or does that not matter? 6. Any great resources you guys might have about the dynamics of body shapes? I've read the bib post and it's amazing. Things like that are what I love to read about.