Could you put the object-to-be photographed on a board supported at an angle - then you wouldn't have to point the camera straight down - and you could select the angle to keep the tripod legs out of the picture.
That would work for those pieces that didn't want to slide.
What I'm looking into is a cheap head that will attach to the bottom of the pole slide. ...Jim Thompson
A strip cut from a sheet of roofing lead could be wrapped around one of the legs as a weight, or better still lead flashing for roofing can be bought with self adhesive coating on the back and should be available in smaller quantities.
I haven't looked at tripods for a few years, but the heads of the ones I used in the past would unscrew from the top of the mast and reattach at the bottom. See if yours is threaded -- mine has a 1/4-20x3/8 stud. Lock the mast and give the pan/tilt handle a good counter-clockwise whack. I suppose newer stuff might omit this feature to save a few pennies, but you might get lucky.
Ken
Think outside the box; a ceiling-mounted mirror over a desk, just use a long lens and aim up. Photoshop has no problem with reversal, and the depth of field is better than in a 'closeup' arrangement.
Use poster putty or somesuch to hold the thing in place.
Tripod threads are 1/4-20 - get a piece of 3/4 x 3/4 thin angle from Home Depot, and a short 1/4-20 bolt and a couple of nuts. Drill a
1/4" hole in one face of the angle, near the end, for the camera mount, and one in the other face, a suitable distance from the end, for the tripod.
To be precise, camera and tripod threads are 1/4 -20 Whitworth thread, which is ever-so-slightly different from 1/4-20 NC (National Coarse) like one sees in common hardware items. Regular hardware will work, but is a tad loose-fitting.
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