Arkansas stone lapping, what grit silicon carbide powder?

[Skane24]

So, I purchased two Arkansas stones for my kme sharpener, dans hard translucent, and dans hard black Arkansas, I just used the translucent after 1500 grit diamond stone, and was incredibly surprised at how fast it cut into the metal, as I've heard they are pretty slow compared to diamonds etc, it removed the scratches, even the deeper ones from previous grits, and left an insane edge, even before stropping! I have fallen in love with it, but wanted to know, what grit or grit progression should I use when lapping these stones in the future? Can I just use any piece of flat glass as well, such as an old window that I had removed from my house during a remodel?

The other question I had was, I still haven't been able to figure out which stone is finer, the translucent or the black, on dans website it says the black is finer, however, many people say the translucent is finer, so wanted to get some more input from others.

Will I end up harming my new Arkansas stones if I use them on a D2 , s30v, or CPM-154 steel knife after the 1500 grit diamond stone?

 

[UncleBoots]

Ark lore says translucents are often finer, but subject to inclusions. However, I trust Dan's to know their own stones, so I trust them when they say that their black ark is finer than their translucent.

Part of that is just generally putting trust in an excellent vendor. A bigger part is that I took a Dan's black ark, just as it came, and finished a razor on it, and shaved with it. After 5 great shaves, I was convinced.

 

[garry3]

Whet dry paper works pretty well. You won't be needing to flatten them just stop the stone from glazing over and becoming slow. The three stone method also works.

 

[Ourorboros]

On those steels you will wear down your Arks faster - the vanadium steels in particular.

I have some Dan's black and translucent - the black is finer, but not by so much that it's worth getting both.