Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Acquisitions - Additional Information (Details)

v2.4.1.9
Acquisitions - Additional Information (Details) (USD $)
3 Months Ended 6 Months Ended 0 Months Ended
Feb. 28, 2015
Feb. 28, 2014
Feb. 28, 2015
Feb. 28, 2014
May 23, 2014
Business Acquisition [Line Items]          
Purchase accounting adjustments     $ 3,157,000us-gaap_GoodwillPurchaseAccountingAdjustments    
Net sales 301,005,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet 327,770,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet 628,770,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet 667,326,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet  
Hayes Industries [Member]          
Business Acquisition [Line Items]          
Business Acquisition, Date of Acquisition Agreement         May 23, 2014
Cash paid for business acquisitions, net of cash acquired         30,500,000us-gaap_PaymentsToAcquireBusinessesNetOfCashAcquired
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= atu_HayesIndustriesMember
Business Combination, Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Range of Outcomes, Value, High 4,000,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationContingentConsiderationArrangementsRangeOfOutcomesValueHigh
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= atu_HayesIndustriesMember
  4,000,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationContingentConsiderationArrangementsRangeOfOutcomesValueHigh
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= atu_HayesIndustriesMember
   
Recognition of Goodwill due to Business acquired         14,400,000us-gaap_GoodwillAcquiredDuringPeriod
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= atu_HayesIndustriesMember
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Intangible Assets Other than Goodwill         10,600,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationRecognizedIdentifiableAssetsAcquiredAndLiabilitiesAssumedIntangibleAssetsOtherThanGoodwill
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= atu_HayesIndustriesMember
Purchase accounting adjustments     3,157,000us-gaap_GoodwillPurchaseAccountingAdjustments
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= atu_HayesIndustriesMember
   
Net sales 6,500,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= atu_HayesIndustriesMember
  14,100,000us-gaap_SalesRevenueNet
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= atu_HayesIndustriesMember
   
Hayes Industries [Member] | Customer relationships          
Business Acquisition [Line Items]          
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Intangible Assets Other than Goodwill         3,300,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationRecognizedIdentifiableAssetsAcquiredAndLiabilitiesAssumedIntangibleAssetsOtherThanGoodwill
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= atu_HayesIndustriesMember
/ us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis
= us-gaap_CustomerRelationshipsMember
Hayes Industries [Member] | Patents          
Business Acquisition [Line Items]          
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Intangible Assets Other than Goodwill         5,000,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationRecognizedIdentifiableAssetsAcquiredAndLiabilitiesAssumedIntangibleAssetsOtherThanGoodwill
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= atu_HayesIndustriesMember
/ us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis
= us-gaap_PatentsMember
Hayes Industries [Member] | Tradenames          
Business Acquisition [Line Items]          
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Intangible Assets Other than Goodwill         2,000,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationRecognizedIdentifiableAssetsAcquiredAndLiabilitiesAssumedIntangibleAssetsOtherThanGoodwill
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= atu_HayesIndustriesMember
/ us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis
= us-gaap_TradeNamesMember
Hayes Industries [Member] | Other intangibles          
Business Acquisition [Line Items]          
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Intangible Assets Other than Goodwill         $ 300,000us-gaap_BusinessCombinationRecognizedIdentifiableAssetsAcquiredAndLiabilitiesAssumedIntangibleAssetsOtherThanGoodwill
/ us-gaap_BusinessAcquisitionAxis
= atu_HayesIndustriesMember
/ us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis
= atu_NonCompeteAgreementsAndOtherMember