I've picked 'em up off the shelf to look at them and seen machine marks where they've been ground with a VERY coarse stone. They should be smooth. Also, I once bought a Lodge brand Hibachi cooker (Knockoff of the classic Atlanta piece) and took it home to cook with it. After seasoning the grill, I lit it up only to discover that the unusual gray finish on the piece was actually some kind of petroleum-based stuff that had been smeared all over it!
The only thing worse in comparison, obviously, would be the cheap-assed stuff from China. No telling WHAT kind of nasty stuff found its way into the foundry where it's made.
Often you will find that newly manufactured cast-iron cookware is coated by the manufacturer with some kind of grease, etc., to keep the cookware from rusting while being shipped if it's exposed to dampness
en route. New stuff should be washed and dried before seasoning.
I do agree that the cooking surfaces of Lodge DO's should be finished much more smoothly. I have been dissapointed about that. We have a number of DO's at our Scout camp that are finished properly, but they have no manufacturer's marks and they are so old no one knows where they were bought.
We had a campout at our local Scout camp where we invited a bunch of Webelos Scouts and their parents. We roasted a dozen chickens, one per DO, and had all 12 going at the same time. Lit up 40 pounds of charcoal to do it. Very impressive.