Lee 10# furnace is great, just keep it clean. Have a small tray to catch drips. IMO never let it get below half full. I never had a leaking problem until I emptied the pot. Then fought for 6 months finally replaced the pot new one from lee was ~10 bucks.
Smoking the mold with a beeswax candle is a great idea and should e done on all molds. However, I did find in a old forum someone talking about dusting cavities with talcum powder tapping off excess and casting, repeat every 3-5 casts as needed. I finally tried this on a 1-1/2 lure I was casting and amazingly enough it works like a champ and even a cold mold will fully fill.
Molding process itself.
Keep everything clean, clean, clean
Organize your hooks for ease of access. I made a little rack from scrap wood and some wire and preload it with hooks. no more fumbling and untangling hooks when casting
I really like my magnifying headband eyes just are not up to the task for setting hooks and inserts. Be sure your hooks are seated properly. It is easy to mess up a mold.
For molds, check out ebay some real bargains can be had. recently I bought new 3 cavity molds for 6 bucks including shipping I still see the same molds on auction and still bid just gotta get lucky. Not in a bind for them I have 3 of each 1/32. 1/16 and 1/8 which make popular grab bag gifts at certain events.
However, best new mold prices I have found are from Zeiner's Bass shop in Wichita KS and having watched a number of auctions on ebay can tell you that Zeiners new prices are often less than the auction prices.
Asbestos finger tips would be nice but I have not found any.
Other than that, a shop apron is nice to have and I will never be without my long handled magnetic pic up tool. Too many times a hook gets dropped and getting up out of the chair to pick it up just slows me down, leaving them lay until end of session is a bad idea.
Good Luck, take your time and have fun..