Building something like that is like making a machine. Maybe I'll try after I've learned more about other instruments. I think the hurdy-gurdy is the ancestor or accordions and other mechanical instruments. Maybe even the piano is one of its offsprings.
There are many mechanisms involved in it's functioning. I would've picked it up and had look at all the moving parts, but I wouldn't have tried to play it. For the same reason, something might break and it wouldn't be fun.