Choosing wood species

[punkinhead]

I started carving my first lure yesterday (a 3-segment swimbait).  I'm targeting neutral bouyancy.  I'm using a piece of mystery wood that's been banging around my shop for 20 years or so and I measured the density at .38 g/cm^3.  I'm struggling with getting enough lead into it without interfering with the tie eye, hook eyes, hinges, etc.  I'm wondering if people target a certain density when choosing wood species.  For example, according to online charts walnut would be about .65 g/cm^3  and maple or cherry would be slightly higher.  Using one of those would cut the amount of lead almost in half which seems like it would be convenient and all of them are reasonably straight grained and easy to carve.  Something like oak would be even denser but the grain doesn't lend itself well to carving.  

What considerations (other than availability) are people using to select a wood species?

[Big Epp]

I've seen a lot of people use maple or poplar for swimbaits. Something very buoyant like cedar, redwood, or basswood will take a ton of lead, whereas something more dense won't need nearly as much. A tradeoff is the maple is much harder to carve than basswood.

A lot of people will use different types of wood for different types of baits, and wood density can have a significant impact on lure function. The buoyancy of the wood works with the drag of the lip on crankbaits to impart action, gliders use the mass of the bait and the hydrodynamics of the profile to create a good glide, and so it goes.

[Flaswimbaiter]

A agree with Big E. I use Tupelo for floating swimbaits and poplar for sinking ones because of the buoyancy. I just made a 7” three piece floater with Tupelo and it’s taking a crapload of lead just to balance it.