Condensed Consolidated Statements Of Earnings (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2011	Nov. 30, 2010
Condensed Consolidated Statements Of Earnings [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 392,799	$ 318,412
Cost of products sold	240,191	196,559
Gross profit	152,608	121,853
Selling, administrative and engineering expenses	88,109	74,192
Amortization of intangible assets	7,218	6,089
Operating profit	57,281	41,572
Financing costs, net	8,222	7,552
Other expense, net	657	448
Earnings from continuing operations before income taxes	48,402	33,572
Income tax expense	11,228	6,911
Earnings from continuing operations	37,174	26,661
Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes		(771)
Net earnings	$ 37,174	$ 25,890
Earnings from continuing operations per share:
Basic	$ 0.54	$ 0.39
Diluted	$ 0.50	$ 0.36
Earnings per share:
Basic	$ 0.54	$ 0.38
Diluted	$ 0.50	$ 0.35
Weighted average common shares outstanding:
Basic	68,421	68,000
Diluted	75,142	74,876