The 'wax model' of Oldenburg and Brune (1972) has been closely examined to provide insight into the mechanism of the orthogonal ridge transform fault pattern characteristic of oceanic ridges. A variety of paraffin waxes have been used, and their ability to develop and maintain the orthogonal configuration is shown to be characterized by the dimensionless parameter G, the ratio of the shear strength of the solid to the resistive stresses along the transform fault, the orthogonal pattern being maintained only when G>1. If this criterion is satisfied, the development of the orthogonal pattern is determined by the symmetry of the stress field and the ability of the wax to fracture in a brittle manner under these applied stresses. The minimum energy criterion proposed by Lachenbruch and Thompson (1972) is critically studied, an its basic hypothesis is found to be contradicted in the wax model. Measurements of the thickness of the solid wax layer as a function of distance from the spreading center indicate a x1/2 dependence, as predicted by the theoretical model of Parker and Oldenburg (1973). To apply the results from the wax model to lithospheric plates, it is not necessary to scale individual material properties but only to determine if the criteria that are necessary and sufficient to produce the pattern in the wax also hold in the earth; it is found that these conditions are qualitatively fulfilled.