Mike Korsak makes custom furniture in an outbuilding he renovated beside the house in Pittsburgh, Pa., where he lives with his wife, Jen, an assistant professor of microbiology. Largely self-taught as a furniture maker, he traces his interest in woodworking to his grandfather, an avid hobbyist. Korsak studied wood products at Penn State and later worked as a timber framer and carpenter and as a designer of timber-frame structures. After taking informal classes with Garrett Hack, he shifted his focus to building fine furniture.