No worries Dave. I did not know they had added the modify convert polyedge to curve tool until bullet pointed it out to me recently. I then spent a day going through every tool menu and watching all the whats's new videos from maya 2009 to 2012 lol.

That merge vertex tools comes from the 3ds max target weld tool. For all the complaints I have about maya's aging modeling tools I guess I should commend autodesk for making some long needed additions. For instance did you know maya's edge extrude never had offset, and the poly extrude never had thicken until recently. As a technical modeler it's inconceivable to not have this functionality and I am very grateful they added it.

Now we just need solid drill, stencil, true fall offs, background constraints, and pattern selection. Fingers crossed! (smile)