No idea what the max component is. In my opinion, 15 would be a lot of work. Add gusts and I'm not sure I'd tackle that unless I had no other choice. But I ain't no Bob Hoover. Yet, anyways.

We always landed it on the mains in windy conditions. Flew many times in a lot more than 15 kts., though can’t say whether the x-wind component was more than that. Never did three point landings in high winds. In fact, rarely did three points at all. You are right about flying it until the mixture is pulled – or until it’s tied down. Never had another aircraft do an uncommanded lift of a wing and main gear off the ground, leading to a yaw/turn to the opposite side and disaster if not quickly caught. The young World War II studs who soloed it in 5 hours during initial training definitely had the chops for the hot stuff to come.

My Xwind limit for a Stearman is dramatically different on grass vs pavement..... And on pavement I would opt for 2 pt landings in the wind.

At the risk of opening an old can of worms, When you say you wheel land in a strong x-wind, when do you let the tail come down? Do you apply brakes and hold it up until the airplane is really slow, or just let it down when you can hold it up no longer?

I've done about 5hrs of nothing but takeoffs and landings - wide runways, narrow runways and varying amounts of wind, the highest was gusting to 23kts, but almost straight down the runway. All pavement, though, no grass around here. X-wind component of 10-12kts had my attention, but the airplane seemed quite controllable, and the ailerons effective. I never touch the brakes on landing unless on 3 wheels slowing for the turnoff (Redline brakes).