The first few castings I did were cut with side cutters. I didn't like the finish so I took the cutters to the grinder to reshape for a better cut. It left a bit of a fin so I used an old knife to scrape the lead until smooth. This was done over a towel to save all the lead chips. I bought the small gate cutters for a second cut of the spru on large castings and for small castings for a finishing cut.
When I get a bucket of wheel weights I separate pure lead, alloy and zinc. Some of my castings are pure lead, some are alloy and some are a mix of the two. Zinc is saved, traded for lead or sold as scrap.
If it is a collared jig, I just break them off the sprue. If non-collar, a little more care is taken to keep from loosening head. On 1/16 and 1/8, I hold the head and break off. On 1/32, I use small needle nose with no cross-hatch. Have to be careful not to squeeze too hard. Everything gets a touch up with file before painting. I file over a large plastic funnel going into container. Fillings get melted down eventually when I have enough.