In this lesson I go over almost every tool in the "Edit Mesh" menu in Maya.
Wk6 Unit Block Intermediate p1
Please note that unit blocks are always created in proportion to each other; what I mean is that the tall cylinder is double the height of the first block, and it's radius is half the length of one side of the block. The triangular piece is twice as wide as the first block, but with the same depth. The measurements you use should always relate to the other blocks so that they all look correct when stacked together.