If you prefer rigid copper or chrome-coated copper supply tubes to the modern screw-on flex lines, that's your business. They may look spiffier, but they do take more work to install. If your copper tubes are too long, you will have to cut them to make them fit. You should use a tubing cutter to do this. This will ensure that you get a clean cut and that the tube will stay “in round.” To get the ends of the tubes to go neatly into the shutoff, you will need to gently bend them with a tool known as a tubing bender. You want the tube to go straight into the shutoff valve – no kinks, no gnarls, and no radical bends. Before you place the tube into the valve, you will need to slip on a coupling nut with a compression ring at the top and bottom of the tube. You can now insert the tube into the valve. Tighten the bottom nut over the ring first. Fit and tighten the top nut to the faucet tail piece. Now you can turn on the shutoff valves. If you spot any leaks, give the offending coupling a quarter tweak. If this works, take out the faucet aerator and let the water run for a little bit to clear the lines. Your work here is done.

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