The Grearson & Lane shed was filled with specialized machinery for turning granite. At its peak, it housed a large cutting lathe, a medium cutting lathe, four small cutting lathes, a very large steeling lathe, a large finishing lathe, four small finishing lathes, and a carborundum lathe. With the large cutting lathe and the very large steeling lathe, G&L could handle turned work from two inches to seven feet in diameter ¨C an example of the latter is the capstone for the time capsule at the NYC Worlds Fair. A few lathes were powered by their own integral electric motors but most were belt-powered from electric motor-driven overhead shafting.

There was a large coring machine, a small coring machine, a diamond coring machine, a wire saw, and two lathe disc sharpening machines. Stone was moved among the machinery by an overhead crane and by two overhead track-mounted hoists and a gib crane in the side aisles. There was also a preparation banker, finishing banker, washing and boxing stand, and blacksmith shop. Compressed air was supplied by the nearby E.L. Smith Co. and the shed was serviced by a Barre & Chelsea spur track.

Except for the carborundum lathe, disc sharpening machines, and very large steeling lathe, G&L did not design or make their own machinery. The carborundum lathe and the very large steeling lathe were designed by Willis Lane and Frederick Grearson and were the only ones ever made. However, Willis Lane did design and manufacture lathes at his own company and, in the early years, may have sold some to G&L. Most of the lathes were manufactured by Patch-Wegner of Rutland.

By the mid 1950s, there were about 10 employees including Lloyd and James III, four cutting lathe operators, and four finishing lathe operators. James III and Arthur Stone ran the carborundum lathe. Winston Bresett, Willda Bresett, Harry Pitman, Arthur Stone, Archie Beede, Kenny Nelson, Howard Sibson, and Roger Gonyea operated lathes. Ed Currier and later Venezio (Pete) Albisetti were employees with many jobs ¨C crane operator, lumper, washer, boxer, truck loader, maintenance man, and cleanup man.

The cutting lathes had a roughing side and a finishing side. The roughing side tool holder with a freely-rotating cutting disc was driven along the ways by a motor-powered screw and was used to make straight or slightly curved cuts. The finishing side tool holder, also with a freely-turning cutting disc, was manually driven along the ways by a rack and pinion gear. On both sides, the in-and-out movement of the tool holder was controlled manually by a hand wheel and feed screw. The stock was first cut to an octagonal cross-section by the wire saw. Then, the raised edges (corners) were taken down by hand at the preparation banker to a roughly cylindrical form and the center holes and lug hole were drilled.

The stock was first turned on the roughing side of the lathe down to a cylinder with a diameter close to that of the final surface. Every turned piece was specified by a full-size engineering drawing and large calipers were used to check the dimensions against the drawing. For spheres, urns, vases, and balusters, the finishing side was used to cut a series of steps close (about 1/4 inch) to the final surface. Periodically, a cedar shingle was pressed up against the stone while it was turning and as the shingle wore away, gradually assumed the curvature of the stone. The shingle was then placed on the drawing so it could be determined where more stone needed to be taken off. As much stone as possible was removed in the lathe, leaving only the core needed to support the stone in the lathe.

To cut a straight column, the tool holder on the roughing side was driven the full length of the column by the powered screw ¨C each pass removing about 1/4 inch of stone. At the end of the pass the tool holder was stopped by disengaging it from the screw. The tool holder was returned manually by a rack and pinion gear to the opposite end of the lathe and then reengaged to start the next cutting pass.

The stone was transferred to a finishing lathe that used three-eighths-inch thick by three-inch wide steel planes of the desired curvature along with abrasive slurry to produce the final steeled or polished surface. An operator continuously shoveled a mud-like abrasive from a pit under the lathe up onto the plane. A column was steeled and polished using a single long plane. A sphere needed only a single plane but an urn or vase required several planes for the various surface curvatures. For a polished surface, the process continued using ever finer abrasives. For the final mirror-like finish, hand-held abrasive bricks of the proper curvature were used while the stone was turning in the lathe.

Finally, the stone was taken out of the finishing lathe and the cores were trimmed off with a wire saw or, in earlier times, by hammer and hand set. The stone ends were brought close to the final surface by a four-point pneumatic chisel at the finish banker. Then a hand-held grinder was used followed by hand steeling or polishing and finally dowel holes, if needed, were drilled. For a vase, a hole was drilled in the top by the small coring machine that used a rotating pipe drill with square notches on the cutting surface.

The carborundum lathe was patented by Willis Lane and Frederick Grearson in 1930 (Patent No. 1,755,873). This lathe, about 40 feet long, was used to cut the square caps and bases of monolithic columns. Before this lathe, the cap and base had to be cut by hand or were cut as separate pieces. While the stone was kept stationary in the lathe, a spinning carborundum wheel started by cutting one side of the square base or cap. Then the stone was rotated 90 degrees for the second side and twice more for the third and fourth sides. After the sides were completed, a second carborundum wheel was used to cut the top of the base and bottom of the capital while the stone was turning in the lathe. After both base and cap were cut, the stone was transferred to a cutting lathe where the round column was cut.

Sometime prior to 1913, Willis A. Lane designed and began the manufacture of a lathe disc sharpening machine. The disc to be sharpened was mounted on a rotating spindle. The spindle was moved down so the edge of the disc contacted a large (8-1/2-inch thick) grindstone that both rotated and moved back-and-forth sideways to insure even wear across the grindstone surface. Periodically, the spindle was lowered until the disc was fully sharpened in two to three hours. After discs were sharpened they were sent to the Trow & Holden Co. for tempering. Long rough cutting runs of a column could dull a disc in an hour. New discs were typically 16 inches in diameter and used until they were reduced by repeated sharpening down to about eight inches.

In the early 1980s, a contract was signed for balusters turned from Woodbury Gray granite for an addition to the Pennsylvania Statehouse. The contract winner ordered two baluster samples from G&L but then signed a contract with Granite Importers of Barre for the rest of the balusters. To fill this order, Granite Importers purchased a lathe with rotating diamond blades manufactured by the Parma Co. of Italy. G&L later purchased the same lathe for its own shed in 1985. It was fast and could run unattended so, except for a few very large stones, the old lathes were not used after the diamond lathe was installed. This lathe is still in use at Hillside Stone Products ¨C operated by Norman Grearson.