Hello and welcome!
   The SM9 is a great machine, and you have a typing work-horse there.  Don't be fooled by the low prices these can sometimes be bought for - it's very near the top of the range in portable machines, but it's not much of a looker, and prices tend to go by looks much of the time.  It's well worth preserving and maintaining; if this is done, your child will be able to pass it to his or her grandchildren still in good condition and working more or less as well as ever it did.  There will be many threads here talking about it, the search box is in the top yellow bar, third one along.  I have many many machines, and some that cost a great deal more, but if I'm going to do some serious typing, one of my SM9s is likely the one I reach for.
   I say all that to indicate that this is a machine worth the professional service, and if I were you. I'd ask for a quote from a typewriter repair shop, and see how you feel when you know how much it will cost in your area.  Cleaning, fettling and relubricating can be done fairly quickly by someone who knows what they're doing, but can be a little daunting for the totally inexperienced.
Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

Last edited by beak (20-10-2015 10:48:16)

You're welcome.  I wrote in another thread somewhere that my preference for the SM9, apart from its excellent handling, mechanical design and range of features, is that it does not distract me from thinking about the text I'm trying to lay down.  Older machines, and those perhaps more handsome in appearance can easily do that.  I think this is why it has always been very popular with serious writers.

Last edited by beak (20-10-2015 10:54:58)

I dropped it off this morning for a good cleaning. Of course, it may do more damage to my wallet than I had hoped... I spied a real beauty of a typewriter that may also have to come home with me when I pick up my Olympia. :-)

Definitely a whole different esthetic than a prewar Quiet Deluxe, say. But I agree that it's very handsome in a 60s way, and actually pretty classic. (And once you start using it, its feel and features are what you remember, as Beak says.)

I saw one today in a boutique print shop -- carriage won't seem to budge.  They're using it as a display item so I guess they don't care if it's working or not, but I have half a mind to offer them a few bucks for it and see if I can get it working.

As much as the lines of the SM-9 are easy on the eyes, I have a thing for curves... If I could put the mechanics of the SM-9 into the body of an SM-3, it would be a perfect match.