Income Taxes - Additional Information (Detail) - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
Apr. 01, 2017	Apr. 02, 2016
Income Tax [Line Items]
Effective income tax rate	30.70%	31.00%
Minimum [Member]
Income Tax [Line Items]
Decrease in unrecognized tax benefits	$ 0
Increase in unrecognized tax benefits	0
Maximum [Member]
Income Tax [Line Items]
Decrease in unrecognized tax benefits	3,400,000
Increase in unrecognized tax benefits	$ 1,200,000

Effective income tax rate on earnings attributable to Snap-on.

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- Definition

Income Tax [Line Items]

+ References

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- Definition

Amount of decrease in unrecognized tax benefits resulting from tax positions that have been or will be taken in current period tax return.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 740
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 15A
-Subparagraph (a)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=65882285&loc=SL6600010-109319

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- Definition

Amount of increase in unrecognized tax benefits resulting from tax positions that have been or will be taken in current period tax return.

+ References

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