the set normal angle button is what I think you are looking for.

In Maya 2009, this option is in the modeling menu set in the normals drop-down menu,
The number you set it too means that any angle which is less than that will be soft.

Therefore, an angle of 90 degrees would be soft if I set it to 91.


You can select an edge you want hard and set it to 0, and it will make that one edge hard. You can select a loop and do the same thing.


This tool is your best friend :bandit: