Westinghouse WR12 "Columaire Jr"

Bands: AM

Tube Lineup: 35, 27, 24, 35, 27, 27, 47, 47, 80

The WR12 "Columaire Jr" cabinet is a magnificent example of Art Deco skyscraper styling like the WR8 designed by Raymond Loewy. The WR12 is the smaller cousin to the WR15 "Deluxe" grandfather clock radio.

I believe the radio chassis is identical to the one used in the WR15, which is a RCA R-11. The radio was an early superheterodyne and Westinghouse advertised it with "completely automatic volume control," an emphasis on the then novel AVC circuit that used an dedicated 27 tube in the design. A pair of 47 tubes were used for the final push pull audio amplifier stage.

I purchased the radio from a 2019 VRPS auction and it was in need of a complete restoration. The cabinet was poorly stained in a dark red mahogany color. I stripped and refinished the cabinet using special walnut everywhere except the center and corner trim pieces were stained in dark walnut.

Below is a video of how knobs for this model were reproduced.