Old, as in 1950's doffer grinders, did one at a time.  Had a slot you dropped a bar in to get spacing right, then ground one & moved over.  If you got to the end and didn't touch, had to readjust and start over.  Took a long time to grind a stack. I think you could do it on the lathe, just slow. 

My only question is how are you going to measure the cross slide movement so it is exact?