May not be polished, but in this pic the outer flange is not raw metal.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1687380504.jpg

There are at least a couple of ways to check the shaft. One would be to set it in the case and check the backlash at various points of rotation as it meshes with the crank gear, as dannobee noted.

The other would be as Neil suggests, locating it between two centering pins, like on a lathe, and check all bearing points. (Maybe check the flange too, just for S&Gs).

In all my years of building 911 engines, we've only seen a few "out of spec" intermediate shafts. The bent shafts were entirely from engine that exploded.
Generally a rod failure where the rod stuck the shaft.

Reviving a good thread: What do you do when you have a new ims gear size 0, case size 0, crank gear size 0, and the back lash varies from 0 to 0.015 at different spots of rotation.

Bearings are new.
With case bolted and torqued, crankshaft and ims rotate fine by hand...

Had to fit a new IMS gear as the old was was thrashed by a chain when the tensioner collapsed...