Honing stone problems

I just got my first sharpener yesterday, and my Microtech Vector is now super sharp. But when I was sharpening it, the knife really smoothed out a bunch of the stone. I know that metal particles get deposited inside the crevices of the stone, but even after I cleaned it out, the stone was still smooth. My coarse stone is now as coarse as my medium stone. How can I prevent this?

keep the stone wet at all times. You can use water or a light oil. I've used WD40 with no problems. Kerosene can be used as well. Or get a specific oil made for use with whetstones.
But you really shouldn't use it dry.
Only certain of the ceramic stones are designed to be used dry.

There are lots of opinions about sharpening stones. One is that your coarse stone should be of a soft type which wears away as you use it. This keeps exposing new abrasives with use so the surface always has sharp edges to remove metal faster. You can dress the stone (i.e. keep the surface relatively flat) by something like rubbing it on a piece of concrete and just throw it away when it gets too worn or thin. I use cheap $2 carborundum stones I get at local Chinese markets for this.

For your fine stone, you want something hard because you want it to be smooth and only polish the edge. So it gets better - finer - with use. I use a black Arkansas for the fine edge.

And I use a wetted intermediate stone (forget where it came from) in between.

Tons of information at BladForums and KnifeForums

Mike