I needed a way of holding a camera in a stable position for desktop photographing of various small items. A desktop tripod was not really working for me, so I designed this gantry (a bit derived from a traveling crane!) The camera can be held at a wide variety of orientations and heights, and then easily locked in place by tightening the knobs at either end. The whole thing collapses down flat to go in a cupboard. The non-plastic parts are four 12mm by 400mmm aluminium tubes, with caps on to avoid scratching and slippage, a piece of thick plywood 50mm by 350mm (in my case with some aluminium angle along the edges for reinforcement), two M6 65mm hex bolts with washers and nuts, four M4 25mm bolts with washers and nuts, and some foam for under the camera.Print the plastic. I used totally standard settings, including .36 layer height and 25% fill. Mine is PLA, but ABS would be fine. I used bought plastic and rubber caps for the tube ends, but you could develop printed versions for the top caps (rubber is good at the bottom). The printed parts are all held together by an M6 by 65mm bolt. The bolt threads through from the inside face of the 'bracket' where there is a hex indent to catch the head. Thread on four 'lock rings' in two pairs to hold the tubes/legs, followed by an 'end cap', a washer and an M6 nut with a 'end knob' pressed over it to provide a grip. The knob could be glued on if necessary.The section of the gantry the camera mounts on is just ply with four mounting holes, and another for the 'tripod screw'. You can make it longer than 350mm if you need to span larger object to be photographed or allow more space for lighting. A layer of foam (or even fabric) is glued to where the camera will sit, across the tripod screw hole. Make a small hole for the screw to pass, a very tight fit is best.To attach your camera to the gantry you need a 'tripod screw', and if you don't have one you can make one from a Whitworth 1/4in bolt, about 3/4 to 1 inch long. The 'Camera Screw' parts can then be threaded onto that and glued together. The 'spacer' can be resized in OpenSCAD, depending on the dimensions of your ply, foam, bolt and camera! You may want to mill off the thread in the mid-section of the bolt, and that will allow the foam to grip the bolt when there is no camera mounted.The knurling on the 'end knob' is from http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:9095