Implementations described and claimed herein provide an arthroplasty system for making resections in a patient knee. In one implementation, the system includes a femoral cutting guide having a patient specific mating region, and a distal planar surface distally spaced from a distal resection surface based on thicknesses of femoral and tibial implants. The distal planar surface may be used to check ligament balance. The system further includes a tibial cutting guide having a patient specific mating region and a an anchor pin hole intersecting with a proximal resection slot near a medial or lateral edge of the proximal resection slot. The anchor pin hole being configured to receive an anchor pin that may serve as a sawing stop during a proximal resection.