A study was conducted to determine the effect of sintering temperature, ranging between 350 and 2700 degrees C, on the characteristics of carbons made from mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) of size 4-16 mu m, formed in a coal tar pitch by heat treatment at 420 degrees C for 2.5 h, and separated by solvent extraction using a tar oil. It was found that the MCMB-based carbon plates heat treated to 1000 and 2700 degrees C possess, respectively, an apparent density of 1.64 and 1.78 g cm(-3), a weight loss of 11.5% and 15.3%, a volume shrinkage of 32.4% and 45.0%, an open porosity of 7.6% and 14.0%, a bending strength of 72 and 50 MPa, and an atomic C/H ratio of 30 and 417. The 2700 degrees C heat-treated plates revealed homogeneity and fine isotropic structure.