Well, my first smelt or melt session has just concluded with a 4-pot total yielding 100lbs of lead.
It was a learning experience that I had been dreading for what appears to be no reason. It did not produce the beautiful ingots that you guys get, but they are very presentable and perfectly usable. I did learn some things about my set up that I will change before next time that will make the process go better. All said, I just hate that I put it off so long.