Porous SiC samples were prepared with three types of wood (poplar, pine, big cone pine) by simply embedding the wood charcoal in a powder mixture of Si and $SiO_2$ at 1600 and $1700^{circ}C$. The basic engineering properties such as density, porosity, pore size and distribution, and strength were characterized. The samples showed full conversion to mostly $eta$-SiC with good retention of the cellular structure of the original wood. More rigid SiC struts were developed for $1700^{circ}C$. They showed similar bulk density ($0.5{sim}0.6;g/cm^3$) and porosity (81~84%) irrespective of the type of wood. The poplar sample showed three pore sizes (1, 8, $60;{mu}m$) with a main size of $60;{mu}m$. The pine sample showed a single pore size ($20;{mu}m$). The big cone pine sample showed two pore sizes (10, $80;{mu}m$) with a main size of $10;{mu}m$. The bend strength was 2.5 MPa for poplar, 5.7 MPa for pine, 2.8 MPa for big cone pine, indicating higher strength with pine.