Marc points this bit of maker zen documenting the how a string is wound on a circa-1850 machine. From the vid’s author, Stefan Schafft -

Many people say to me, it is impossible to make good strings with such a machine.
But I can tell you, the strings are perfect. Ok, It takes a time but it`s great to work like in the 19th century

They certainly don’t make ‘em like they used to. Check out Discovery’s video on the modern guitar string-making process -