Figure 11-5 shows one obvious way to reinforce our
mechanism: We simply replace the two pairs of 1×4 bricks
with two 1×8 bricks. On the upside, the weak seam is now
gone, every link in our chain is solid, and we no longer need
to use plates. Additionally, this solution adds no weight
and takes up no extra space. The downside is that using
long, solid bricks can be an invasive way of reinforcing,
and building in this way is time-consuming and extremely
inconvenient with complex gearing, as you’ll have to place all
elements at the same time.