The term "Liahona" is not used until Alma 37:38 where is says, our fathers called it Liahona. This Liahona was an amazing intervention by the Lord. Rarely does the Lord create an inanimate, "manufactured" object for the use of man. Usually the Lord shows the pattern of how things should be made but He doesn't make them. Consider the ark, the tools and ship that Nephi built, the temple patterns, the ark of the covenant. The Lord didn't make any of these things. He commanded them to be made and then showed the pattern. In this respect, the Liahona sets an unusual precedent.