An improved surgical cutting surface for guiding bone saws in joint surgery and similar instruments is disclosed. The cutting block is provided with one or more cutting guide surfaces that may be positioned on exterior faces of the block or along channels within the block. The reference cutting surface of the material is composed of a material that has a Knoop hardness of 466 or greater (under a 500 gm load or greater), a chrome content of less than 10 % and a nickel content of less than 4 %. The cutting guide is also variously configured with rails or protuberances to provide a reference cutting surface having reduced frictional characteristics. Also a dual cutting block system for femoral resection is provided. Each of the two cutting blocks is configured to provide a cutting guide for both a standard cut and the complementary chamfer cut.
