Leo Lichtman wrote:

They WERE files.

I don't think they ever were files, but they came very close to it.

In Sheffield, lots of file makers also made scrapers. An identical file
blank would be taken off the line before the teeth were cut, curved and
then sharpened and polished. The steel requirements are the same and
many of the shapes are similar.

In the workshop, it was traditional to make your wown scrapers from old
files by annealing them, filing the old teeth off, bending to shape,
then re-hardening and sharpening as a scraper.

As these appear to have no trace of file teeth at all, I think they
were made as scrapers. Usually when re-cycling files into scrapers you
just take the teeth off around the edges and flatten the tops a little.
The remaining teeth make a good chequered grip.

The box is unusual - it's carefully made to store curved scrapers
without damaging their edges, yet it doesn't seem to leave space for
handles. This is the work of someone who looked after their tools more
than their hands - a bare file/scraper tang stuck in the palm is a
nasty injury.