DISCONTINUED OPERATIONS (Narrative) (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended						0 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014		Dec. 31, 2013		Dec. 31, 2012		Jun. 30, 2014	Apr. 30, 2014	Dec. 17, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Mar. 30, 2012	Mar. 30, 2012	Dec. 31, 2014
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Disposable Group, Including Discontinued Business, Number of Facilities to be Disposed of	4
Impairment of assets held for sale	$ (41,369,000)		$ 0		$ 0
Discontinued Operation, Gain (Loss) on Disposal of Discontinued Operation, Net of Tax	(22,360,000)	[1]	0	[1]	18,512,000	[1]
Proceeds from divestiture	152,965,000		0		52,123,000
Impairment of assets	3,202,000		887,000		4,988,000
Net sales	363,869,000		392,690,000		285,194,000
Earnings from discontinued operations before income taxes	(48,519,000)	[2]	(3,097,000)	[2]	(14,930,000)	[2]
Gain (loss) on divestiture	(29,184,000)				29,912,000
Discontinued Operation, Tax Effect of Discontinued Operation	(14,268,000)		(1,674,000)		(6,181,000)
Surface Technologies Domestic [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairment of assets held for sale	(1,900,000)
Surface Technologies Domestic [Member] | Commercial Industrial [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Net sales	4,395,000		4,672,000		1,767,000
Earnings from discontinued operations before income taxes	(2,264,000)		(528,000)		(319,000)
Surface Technologies International [Member] | Commercial Industrial [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Net sales	4,355,000		4,600,000		4,248,000
Earnings from discontinued operations before income taxes	(6,123,000)		(805,000)		(989,000)
Aviation Ground Support [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairment of assets held for sale	(6,200,000)
Aviation Ground Support [Member] | Defense [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Net sales	29,331,000		28,022,000		28,585,000
Earnings from discontinued operations before income taxes	(8,644,000)		(122,000)		27,000
Downstream [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairment of assets held for sale	(33,100,000)
Downstream [Member] | Energy [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Net sales	127,594,000		109,270,000		98,341,000
Earnings from discontinued operations before income taxes	(32,284,000)		(3,175,000)		(12,388,000)
Benshaw [Member] | Defense [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from Sales of Business, Affiliate and Productive Assets							49,700,000
Disposal Date							Jun. 30, 2014
Net sales	29,029,000		70,741,000		89,183,000
Earnings from discontinued operations before income taxes	(3,061,000)		2,173,000		5,972,000
Gain (loss) on divestiture							7,300,000
Discontinued Operation, Tax Effect of Discontinued Operation							2,900,000
3 D Radar [Member] | Defense [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from Sales of Business, Affiliate and Productive Assets								2,400,000
Disposal Date								Apr. 30, 2014
Net sales	344,000		5,165,000		7,444,000
Earnings from discontinued operations before income taxes	(1,117,000)		215,000		1,492,000
Gain (loss) on divestiture								600,000
Upstream [Member] | Energy [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from Sales of Business, Affiliate and Productive Assets									98,000,000
Disposal Date									Dec. 17, 2014
Net sales	143,182,000		145,609,000		9,335,000
Earnings from discontinued operations before income taxes	14,267,000		10,898,000		(2,090,000)
Gain (loss) on divestiture									(13,700,000)
Discontinued Operation, Tax Effect of Discontinued Operation									600,000
Vessels [Member] | Energy [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from Sales of Business, Affiliate and Productive Assets										2,000,000
Net sales	5,798,000		5,127,000		17,644,000
Earnings from discontinued operations before income taxes	(11,115,000)		(12,611,000)		(12,729,000)
Gain (loss) on divestiture										(8,600,000)
Discontinued Operation, Tax Effect of Discontinued Operation										3,200,000
Heat Treating [Member] | Commercial Industrial [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from Sales of Business, Affiliate and Productive Assets												52,000,000
Disposal Date											Mar. 30, 2012
Net sales					10,785,000
Earnings from discontinued operations before income taxes					4,929,000
Gain (loss) on divestiture					29,900,000
Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Means Other than Sale, Abandonment [Member] | Surface Technologies International [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Payments for Removal Costs													5,300,000
General and Administrative Expense [Member] | Machinery and Equipment [Member] | Surface Technologies International [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Impairment of assets													$ 3,200,000

[1] In the year ended December 31, 2014, the Corporation recognized aggregate after tax losses of $22.4 million on the sale of the Benshaw, 3D, Upstream and Vessels business. No businesses were sold in 2013. In 2012, the Corporation recognized an after tax gain of $18.5 million on the Heat Treat divestiture. Further details about these transactions are described below.

[2] Loss from discontinued operations before income taxes includes approximately $41.4 million of held for sale impairment expense in the year ended December 31, 2014.