Easymo:
That's more than a knack, that's genius. A friend of mine, now deceased, had a gift like that. Was a machinist, mechanic all his life, he died about 5 years ago at age 89. He was around for the steam engines, the Libertys and the rest.
John Deere once gave him a new tractor, back in 1955, because he created a new hydraulic pump for it. They wanted to buy his design, he told them "just gimme a tractor". Would enjoy shooting the breeze with you sometime....