It's always amazing to me to see how well designed these old machines are that they withstand the ravages of time and use. I doubt you would see very little difference in a new machine bought today along those lines. Of course, getting into CNC is another breed of cat, but even that is simply a souped up version of what you see here.
I once read a story about American POWs in Japan that made a hand held fully working miniature metal lathe while in camp. That required some dedication and patience given the limited resources they would have had.