i think arkansas are great but like any stone you need to use the right grade at the right time then honing progresses faster,they can also be just about any colour as they're graded by density my soft stone is bright red,i've done several edge restorations and after setting a bevel on a silicone carbide stone i worked through soft hard and surgical black and after couple hours and several hundred laps got unbelievable edges so they can be used the whole way through,all depends on what you like and the kind of edge you like i find the way they polish instead of abrading you get an extremely smooth edge