Revenues from external customers attributed to all foreign countries in total from which the entity derives revenues.

No definition available.

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- Definition

Amount of expenses, net of asset impairments and gains or losses on sale of assets, associated with exit or disposal activities pursuant to an authorized plan. Excludes expenses related to a discontinued operation or an asset retirement obligation.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

This element represents adjustments to earnings before interest and taxes attributable to special item charges and gains allocable to the entity's segments.

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No definition available.

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Amount of write-down of assets recognized in the income statement. Includes, but is not limited to, losses from tangible assets, intangible assets and goodwill.

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- Definition

For an entity that discloses a concentration risk in relation to quantitative amount, which serves as the "benchmark" (or denominator) in the equation, this concept represents the concentration percentage derived from the division.

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Amount before tax of foreign currency transaction realized and unrealized loss recognized in the income statement.

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- Definition

Revenue from the sale of land in the reporting period.

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- Definition

Number of operating segments. An operating segment is a component of an enterprise: (a) that engages in business activities from which it may earn revenues and incur expenses (including revenues and expenses relating to transactions with other components of the same enterprise), (b) whose operating results are regularly reviewed by the enterprise's chief operating decision maker to make decisions about resources to be allocated to the segment and assess its performance, and (c) for which discrete financial information is available. An operating segment may engage in business activities for which it has yet to earn revenues, for example, start-up operations may be operating segments before earning revenues.

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- Definition

The charge against earnings resulting from the write down of long lived assets other than goodwill due to the difference between the carrying value and lower fair value.

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- Definition

The percentage of LIFO (last in first out) inventory to total inventory as of the balance sheet date if other than 100 percent.

+ References

No definition available.

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Amount of expenses associated with exit or disposal activities pursuant to an authorized plan. Excludes expenses related to a discontinued operation or an asset retirement obligation.

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SEGMENT INFORMATION (Textual) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014 segment	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013
Financial information for the reportable segments
Restructuring charges		$ 1,241us-gaap_RestructuringCharges	$ 3,658us-gaap_RestructuringCharges
Number of operating segments (segments)		5us-gaap_NumberOfOperatingSegments
Percentage of total inventories valued using the LIFO method (as a percent)		40.00%us-gaap_PercentageOfLIFOInventory	38.00%us-gaap_PercentageOfLIFOInventory	34.00%us-gaap_PercentageOfLIFOInventory	38.00%us-gaap_PercentageOfLIFOInventory
Special items
Asset Impairment Charges		32,742us-gaap_AssetImpairmentCharges
Special items charge (Gain)		51,186leco_SpecialItemsChargeGain	21,366leco_SpecialItemsChargeGain	10,735leco_SpecialItemsChargeGain
Foreign Currency Transaction Loss, before Tax	17,665		8,081
Europe Welding
Financial information for the reportable segments
Restructuring charges		911	1,765	3,637
Special items
Special items charge (Gain)		904	2,045	3,534
Asia Pacific Welding
Financial information for the reportable segments
Restructuring charges		(184)	841	3,151
Special items
Other Asset Impairment Charges		32,742	4,444			4,675
Asset Impairment Charges				1,842
Land Sales		(3,923)	705		705
Special items charge (Gain)		28,635	6,071	4,993
Restructuring Charges Net			922
South America Welding
Financial information for the reportable segments
Restructuring charges		582	0
Special items
Special items charge (Gain)		21,715	12,198	1,381			2,538	9,660
Foreign Currency Transaction Loss, before Tax		21,133
The Harris Products Group
Special items
Special items charge (Gain)		0	0	0
North America Welding
Financial information for the reportable segments
Restructuring charges		(68)	1,052	827
Special items
Special items charge (Gain)		(68)	1,052	827
United States
Special items
EntityWideDisclosureOnGeographicAreasRevenueFromExternalCustomersAttributedToForeignCountries1		$ 210,325	$ 260,195	$ 268,331
Revenues \| Customer concentration risk \| Maximum
Special items
Percentage of concentration of credit risk not met other than separately disclosed		10.00%	10.00%	10.00%