Abstract: A machine for making a chain in the form of a rope comprising a forming unit which is fed intermittently with wire by a feed device and is arranged to cut successive pieces of wire and form them into open rings on a movable conveyor pin, and a linking unit which is spaced from the forming unit and is arranged to receive the rings from the conveyor pin. The linking unit includes gripper means for taking the rings from the conveyor pin and introducing them to a final receiving and holding member in alternately overturned positions so that each of the rings embraces a plurality of preceding rings. The machine includes means for feeding the receiving and holding member with reinforcing wires for the chain. The machine also includes actuator means for controlling the supply of wire, the forming unit with the conveyor pin, and the gripper means of the linking unit in a predetermined operating sequence.