Restructuring Charges (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	May 31, 2018	May 31, 2017	May 31, 2018	May 31, 2017
Restructuring Cost and Reserve [Line Items]
Restructuring costs recorded in cost of products sold			$ 900
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance			5,637	$ 6,273
Restructuring Charges, including recorded in Cost of Product Sold	$ 1,200	$ 384	12,099	5,433
Cash payments			(8,537)	(6,394)
Other non-cash uses of reserve			(4,091)	(501)
Impact of changes in foreign currency rates			(174)	(31)
Ending Balance	4,934	4,780	4,934	4,780
Industrial
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance			202	1,343
Restructuring Charges, including recorded in Cost of Product Sold			2,797	1,686
Cash payments			(1,411)	(2,060)
Other non-cash uses of reserve			(849)	(437)
Impact of changes in foreign currency rates			(49)	(19)
Ending Balance	690	513	690	513
Energy
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance			3,613	3,021
Restructuring Charges, including recorded in Cost of Product Sold			3,969	39
Cash payments			(3,305)	(1,123)
Other non-cash uses of reserve			(858)	(7)
Impact of changes in foreign currency rates			(120)	(2)
Ending Balance	3,299	1,928	3,299	1,928
Engineered Solutions
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance			1,792	1,863
Restructuring Charges, including recorded in Cost of Product Sold			497	3,627
Cash payments			(1,661)	(3,128)
Other non-cash uses of reserve			(291)	(13)
Impact of changes in foreign currency rates			(5)	(10)
Ending Balance	332	2,339	332	2,339
General Corporate
Restructuring Reserve [Roll Forward]
Beginning Balance			30	46
Restructuring Charges, including recorded in Cost of Product Sold			4,836	81
Cash payments			(2,160)	(83)
Other non-cash uses of reserve			(2,093)	(44)
Impact of changes in foreign currency rates			0	0
Ending Balance	$ 613	$ 0	$ 613	$ 0