Questions on working with a big piece of Eucalyptus

First of all, lacquer is not a good choice for finishing anything that will be kept outside.

Really, there are no good options to use to apply a transparent finish to any wood item that will be kept outside.

Yes, it needs to be “quite” dry before applying any finish.

Herb

-- Herb, Florida - Here's why I close most messages with "Be Careful!" http://lumberjocks.com/HerbC/blog/17090

It will crack quite a lot as it dries unless you treat it with Pentacryl.
You’ll also find that sanding endgrain to level the piece will be a lot of work, although it is doable.

-- Jeremy, in the Acadian forests

Not sure about the bark but most of the eucalyptus I have dealt with peels off pretty easy as it dries.
Underneath though can be some interesting textures and features, so in my opinion it wouldn’t be that bad.

I have milled a lot of eucalyptus on my saw mill and I have a lot of little pieces that I have sitting around and it will crack a lot. You can paint the ends to seal them but the nature of eucalyptus as lumber is pretty squirelly.
I use it, but there is a lot of cull and a lot of void filling.