New Scientist published a reminiscence of somebody in the relatively modern era doing the 3 plate dance. I wish I could find it online. They said it was tedious work.

Maudsleys 3 plates are in the London science museum along with Whitworths screw, and some of Marc Brunels stuff. Same room as the meccano differential analyser and the harmonic calculator for tide charts and Babbage bits.

Edit: found it - https://archive.is/iyCzB