I owned a pen press. I was not smart enough to just use the lathe from the beginning. I will never go back to a pen press now that I know how to do it on the lathe.
Agree with Mark. Using the lathe as a pen press is so much more useful than having to find out where you last used the pen press amid all the clutter of a messy shop. I use two plastic/HDPE MT inserts to press parts together when I make kit pens.