Jack...
yes balsa will be a lot more easier to work with compare to basswood.....but the advantage is basswood is a bit tougher and nice when fine sanded.
Dave...
You can get the eye in South Side Angling, at their fly tying section....the reflector tape i got in leinaham home depot in wall paper section....the reflector is tape on the foil tape. The body is foiled first,then the tape.
paulocallaghan...
Yes....most of them are in 4 pcs sheet.The reason because i need to make a space for movable balancer and some times rattler .The 4 pcs construction make it easier for me to get the symmetrical shape for the body.
The through wire construction i make from a stainless steel.
The tools....


and sand paper....
Honestly the cost of one lure is cheap.....i strip of bass wood 1/8"x1"x24" is euro 3.....that stip can be use to make a few lure depend on what size of lure.....wire....euro 1 per meter.....epoxies for coating.....euro 20,354ml....can serve u a lots of lure.....fast curing epoxies....euro 8....etc....etc..thats only from me...a hobbyist ,small scale....i bet its gonna be cheaper for big scale production....i would say maybe euro 5 the cost for the material per lure....
....its just that when u got started from scratch with 0...theres a lot of stuff that u need to buy...lets say u re hooked....then u start looking for a better tool so u can produce them more efficiently......less time per lure...


A long the way you will come to the phase where u start to become creative....everywhere u go(even when shopping with wife in women dept)u will start to look around on stuff and try to think of anything of the stuff that u can use on ur lure.....
But most of custom lure are expensive because of their workmanship....the action.....the designer spend a lot of time in RnD with frustration to get it right....to get it swim right....
http://www.lure-fly.com/vagabond/