YouTube metadata audit: Lathe and Grain
Scope: the 8 videos and 4 playlists you pasted. Descriptions were given as their first 3 lines only, so the 5,000 character description limit could not be checked; I counted titles only. Character counts include spaces and were computed by script.
Limits used (Platform facts): | Field | Limit (characters) | Checked here | |---|---|---| | Video title | 100 | yes | | Video description | 5,000 | no: only first 3 lines pasted | | Playlist title | 150 | yes | | Playlist description | 5,000 | yes, all far under |
Video checks
| Video | Title (as given) | Title characters | Duration | Playlists | Main term | Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V1 | Turning Your First Bowl on a Midi Lathe: Every Step From Blank to Finish, Including Sharpening, Sanding and Oil | 111 | 24:10 | Bowls | first bowl | title 111 characters, over 100; main term 'first bowl' not in description first 3 lines |
| V2 | Bowl Gouge Sharpening Jig Setup | 31 | 11:42 | Sharpening | bowl gouge sharpening | opening line shared with V3, V7; main term 'bowl gouge sharpening' not in description first 3 lines |
| V3 | Spindle Gouge vs Skew Chisel for Beginners | 42 | 9:05 | Tools | skew chisel | opening line shared with V2, V7; main term 'skew chisel' not in description first 3 lines |
| V4 | Finishing a Bowl With Food Safe Oil | 35 | 7:30 | Bowls; Finishing | food safe finish | main term 'food safe finish' not in title; main term 'food safe finish' not in description first 3 lines |
| V5 | Shop Tour 2026 | 14 | 14:20 | (none) | woodturning shop | main term 'woodturning shop' not in title; main term 'woodturning shop' not in description first 3 lines; in no playlist |
| V6 | Why Your Tool Catches (and How to Stop It) | 42 | 12:55 | Tools | tool catches | main term 'tool catches' not in description first 3 lines |
| V7 | Mounting a Bowl Blank: Faceplate or Chuck | 41 | 10:18 | Bowls | mounting a bowl blank | opening line shared with V2, V3; main term 'mounting a bowl blank' not in description first 3 lines |
| V8 | Pen Turning Kit Unboxing | 24 | 6:40 | (none) | pen turning | main term 'pen turning' not in description first 3 lines; in no playlist |
Rules applied: video title limit 100 characters (Platform facts); duplicate = identical opening line on 2 or more videos; main term checked in the title and in the description's first 3 lines, case ignored.
Playlist checks
| Playlist | Title | Title characters | Description characters | Videos | Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P1 | Bowls | 5 | 43 | 3 | none |
| P2 | Sharpening | 10 | 0 | 1 | blank description |
| P3 | Tools | 5 | 0 | 2 | blank description |
| P4 | Finishing | 9 | 40 | 1 | none |
Playlist title limit is 150 characters (Platform facts). No playlist title is near it.
Counts
Findings per check: | Check | Findings | |---|---| | Video title over 100 characters | 1 | | Duplicate opening line | 3 | | Main term not in title | 2 | | Main term not in description first 3 lines | 8 | | Video in no playlist | 2 | | Playlist with blank description | 2 | | Total findings | 18 |
Findings per item (each item listed once, with its number of findings): | Item | Findings | |---|---| | P2 | 1 | | P3 | 1 | | V1 | 2 | | V2 | 2 | | V3 | 2 | | V4 | 2 | | V5 | 3 | | V6 | 1 | | V7 | 2 | | V8 | 2 | | Items with at least one finding | 10 |
18 findings sit on 8 videos and 2 playlists. V2, V3 and V7 share the opening line "Welcome back to the shop! Grab a coffee and let's get into it." Their first lines are what viewers see before Show more (Platform facts), so all three open with the same words and none names its topic.
Proposed edits (held)
Each edit is HELD until you approve it. Wording uses only words from your paste; anything new is a placeholder.
| ID | Item | Field | Current | Proposed | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | V1 | Title | Turning Your First Bowl on a Midi Lathe: Every Step From Blank to Finish, Including Sharpening, Sanding and Oil | Turning Your First Bowl on a Midi Lathe: Blank to Finish | HELD |
| E2 | V1 | Description line 1 | In this video I turn a cherry bowl from a rough blank. | Turning your first bowl: [ADD: rest of the opening line] | HELD |
| E3 | V2 | Description line 1 | Welcome back to the shop! Grab a coffee and let's get into it. | Bowl gouge sharpening with a jig: [ADD: one line on what the jig setup covers] | HELD |
| E4 | V3 | Description line 1 | Welcome back to the shop! Grab a coffee and let's get into it. | Spindle gouge vs skew chisel for beginners: [ADD: one line on what is compared] | HELD |
| E5 | V7 | Description line 1 | Welcome back to the shop! Grab a coffee and let's get into it. | Mounting a bowl blank on a faceplate or a chuck: [ADD: one line on the method shown] | HELD |
| E6 | V4 | Description line 1 | Food safe oil finish on a walnut bowl, start to buff. | Keep; main term "food safe finish" differs from "food safe oil finish" only by one word. Your call whether to match exactly | HELD |
| E7 | V6 | Description line 1 | Catches happen when the bevel is not riding. | Tool catches happen when the bevel is not riding. | HELD |
| E8 | V8 | Description line 1 | Unboxing a slimline pen kit. | Pen turning: unboxing a slimline pen kit. | HELD |
| E9 | V5 | Playlist | (none) | [ADD: playlist to place the shop tour in, or leave out] | HELD |
| E10 | V8 | Playlist | (none) | [ADD: playlist for pen turning; none exists yet] | HELD |
| E11 | P2 | Description | (blank) | [ADD: one line on what the Sharpening playlist covers] | HELD |
| E12 | P3 | Description | (blank) | [ADD: one line on what the Tools playlist covers] | HELD |
E1 drops "Every Step From" and ", Including Sharpening, Sanding and Oil" from the V1 title; whether the dropped words matter to you is your decision. V5's title "Shop Tour 2026" does not contain its main term "woodturning shop"; I did not propose a title for it because adding the term changes your title style, so that is left to you (question 3). These edits are hypotheses: no source here says a metadata change raises views or search placement.
Questions for you
- Can you paste the full descriptions? I could not check the 5,000 character limit or anything below line 3.
- V8 says "Part 1 of 2". Is part 2 published? If so, a pen turning playlist (E10) would hold both.
- Do you want main terms matched exactly (E6, and V5's title), or are close variants fine? V2, V3 and V7 also lack their exact terms in line 1; E3 to E5 put them there.
Needs your decision
- Approve, change or drop each of E1 to E12 before anything is edited in YouTube Studio.
- Edit path when approved: YouTube Studio, left menu Content, Playlists tab, Details for playlists (Platform facts); video details for titles and descriptions.